All The King's Horses
by the ramblin rose
Summary: All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put their hearts back together again...Caryl AU. He's a single father with just one concern and a past he'd rather leave behind him. She's a single mother just looking for a new start and an escape from her own past. Everyone knows life is not a fairy tale. Caryl, Mandrea Rated M for sexual content, violence, language, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I said I wasn't going to start this one until Broken Mirrors was finished…and I really meant it…but it was driving me crazy. So here it is. I'll say that it's probably not going to get tons of attention until the other one is wrapped up…but I just had to get this out (and the next chapter that's to come).**

**This is an AU story. It will eventually be Caryl and it will have Mandrea in it as well. Other characters will play a part and if you're familiar with my other stories, you'll see some familiar OC faces come into the picture. **

**Some characters, if not all, will be at least somewhat OOC because I'm adapting them to my vision and to this world that I'm building. **

**If it needs to be said, I'm not getting paid for this. There's no profit. It's just for fun. The only payment that I get are reviews from those that decide to leave them and I love and appreciate all of them. They are what keep me writing. **

**I own nothing. I own nothing from the Walking Dead. The only thing I own in the stories are the plot lines and the OC characters. The Walking Dead characters are merely characters that I'm borrowing. **

**All that out of the way, here's the first chapter. I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Most people didn't know Daryl Dixon well…and that was mostly owing to the fact that there wasn't that much to know. It was also owing to the fact that he'd long since figured out that most people weren't worth getting to know too damn well.

He could count on his hands the number of people that mattered in his life. The list wouldn't have worn out anyone who'd sat down to listen to it if he'd bothered to detail it out to them…which he most likely wouldn't.

So most people that knew him, knew him for what exactly their eyes told them he was. They knew him as a man with chapped, cracked hands from too many years working in less than ideal conditions and on less than easy projects that, nowadays, would be the one offering you the keys to your newly repaired car, but they knew him as little else.

But his hands had built a life for him, whether or not it was much of a fancy life to anyone who was looking, and he wasn't complaining too much about it…no one would have listened too long anyway. The people he did get to know well, after all, had mostly spent their lives busting their asses one way or another too and they weren't prone to wasting too damn much time whining over woes that everybody had.

There wasn't a one of them that was a daisy through and through…but sometimes the prettiest flowers grew under the well-known description of weeds.

Supper had long been finished when Daryl got around to rinsing off the dishes and piling them into the plastic drip tray by the sink to drain. He walked around the living room, making a final check for any cups that might have been left out or any kind of food that might have found its way to the floor. The trailer he lived in wasn't the nicest place in the world…and the last damn thing he needed was cockroaches big enough to carry the damn thing off showing up to feast on food that he'd missed.

He heard the thumping sound of bare feet slapping running from the back bedroom and prepared himself for it, his back protesting before the impact ever came, his arms already spread out.

And when the smiling, dirty-blonde boy powered straight into him, his momentum threatening to take them both down when he grew a little bigger, Daryl scooped him up and hugged him against his body, feeling his son's skin still damp through his pajamas.

"Ya ain't dried off good," Daryl said.

The boy laughed.

"I was saving it!" He declared.

Daryl lowered his eyebrows at him.

"Savin' ya bath water?" Daryl asked.

The boy smiled and nodded his head.

"Uncle Merle said it's air conditioninin…" he explained.

Daryl chuckled.

"It ain't that hot…" Daryl said.

But there really wasn't any need in arguing about it. The water was almost dry. Even the boy's hair, when Daryl rubbed his cheek against it, was almost dry.

It wasn't as hot in the trailer as maybe his brother Merle liked to tease it was, but with the summer heat of Georgia burning outside like a thousand suns…it was plenty hot enough for a little dampness not to last you too long before it was replaced by your own sweat. Even the rumbling window units in the trailer were no match for it.

"Ya ready for bed?" Daryl asked.

The boy shook his head and Daryl nodded his in response.

"Well…ya goin' there anyway…come on," Daryl said, carrying the boy who leaned into him, wrapping an arm around his neck. Daryl closed his eyes a split second as he walked through the trailer, riding his son on his hip, savoring as he always did the feeling of those tiny arms and legs wrapped around him…the feeling of the one person that mattered most in the whole world.

When he got into the bedroom, he dropped the boy on his bed, holding him just high enough over it that he bounced slightly, laughing.

"In bed…" Daryl said.

The boy obeyed, crawling under the cover and Daryl walked around, checking the floor until he found the teddy bear that the kid liked so damn much. He had at least ten of them…but none of them were as special as Smuckers…though Daryl didn't have a clue why that one had such appeal.

The bear found, Daryl plugged in the fire truck nightlight so it would be ready to go, ready to ward off the ghosts and goblins, evil spirits, and even the dragons that his son had recently decided he was afraid of because Merle and Andrea had let him see a movie right before bed that had given him nightmares.

"Story, Daddy!" The boy called from the bed with something akin to terror in his voice. It was the terror that every child feels before the light goes out and they're left alone to pass so many hours…the terror that they might not get that one last ray of joy in their day.

And Daryl chuckled.

"I know, I know…I tell ya a story ever' damn night don't I? Why the hell ya act like every night's gonna be the first damn time I don't?" Daryl asked. "What'cha want, Russ? Cat story? Monkey with the big hat? What's it gonna be?"

"No…" Russ whined. "Your story! That one…"

Daryl snickered and came, sitting down on the bed. The little boy moved to make room for Daryl so that he could lean back, getting comfortable, and Daryl smiled to himself when Russ snuggled against his chest, ready to hear the story…Daryl's special story…the story that he had yet to realize was a ridiculous story that Daryl was desperately flailing to make up for him as he went along…a story that had been born out of boredom from having read every single book a thousand times…but now that it was started, it seemed that Russ was never letting it go…and it just got worse the longer they went along.

"Right…where was we?" Daryl asked.

"Hansel found the mushroom king…" Russ responded, snuggling down even more until Daryl wondered sometimes if the boy would worm his way into his body given the chance.

"Right…" Daryl responded, trying desperately to figure out where they might have been in the story…and what he might have already weaved in there…the good thing being that Russ didn't seem to care how often he repeated himself or how many characters came into and dropped out of the story without warning or explanation.

_So Hansel…see…he come up on this town…an' in this here town he found himself surrounded by all these lil' tiny people…no bigger'n ya hand. All wearin' these polka dotted hats, look just like mushroom caps. An' he said to one of the lil' men…said he wanted to see about stayin' there to see if he could find what the hell he was lookin' for there…if mushroom towns had everything he ever dreamed about…an' the lil' man he said…he said…well he weren't in charge an' he couldn't tell Hansel that he could stay…but he could take him down ta talk ta the king…an' the king, he could answer all Hansel's questions…so Hansel would know if he was stayin' or if he was goin'…_

There were more than a few people that had their share of criticism for Daryl when it came to Russ…and most of the people who bothered to voice it were people that Daryl didn't bother to know much about.

They said he couldn't bring the boy up right. They said he'd have done better to give him over to someone who could do a decent job of it. Russ, they said, wasn't ever going to grow up to be anything at all with nothing better to call his own than the family that he had.

And they'd said that Daryl should have given him to Merle and Andrea, at the very least and if he was determined to keep the kid in the family…and sometimes Daryl thought that maybe they were right and his brother and sister in law might have done a better job with the kid...but Daryl hadn't had the heart to do it.

And no one that he gave a damn about had criticized him for it.

People said that Daryl didn't know how to raise a kid. He'd heard the whispered stories going around the sleepy ass town with nothing better to do than mind his business, that he was likely to harm the boy…that he wouldn't know how to take care of him…that the boy would grow up neglected, stunted, damaged.

Russ needed more in his life than Daryl…he needed a mother in his life. He needed a father who knew what the hell he was doing. He didn't need some damn redneck who'd never even held a kid before and who'd never had a father worth mentioning, to try and raise him all on his own. They'd said that having an extended family, biological or otherwise, comprised of the individuals that Daryl surrounded himself with wasn't going to be enough to keep the kid from going bad…Russ needed more in his life than Daryl.

And maybe they were right…and maybe Russ did need more in his life than Daryl.

But the only thing that Daryl needed in his life…the only thing he'd needed for the past four years almost…was Russ.

He hadn't picked this life out for himself, not exactly. He didn't imagine there were too damn many people in the world that said "you know what the hell I'm going to do when I grow up? I'm going to be a single ass parent, busting my ass at some job to get the money to keep me and my kid from going under…" It wasn't really anyone's idea of a perfect life…or an ideal situation…but it was what the hell Daryl had, and if life had taught him anything, it had taught him to make the best of what he had.

When Russ had been born, his mother had made it pretty clear…before he was even a week old…that she didn't want to be a mother. It had been an accident, something she didn't want, and she'd signed her rights away to him.

And she'd left Daryl to make the decision of what he would do…sign his rights away, give the kid up for adoption…up to a better life, or stay.

And Daryl had known he wasn't much, and he wasn't going to have much of anything to offer the kid…but he couldn't just turn him over to strangers. So he took the selfish route, maybe, and he'd kept Russ.

It hadn't been easy. Daryl hadn't had a whole lot of experience with kids in his life, and he didn't exactly have spit shiny role models from his own parents…but he'd fumbled his way through the shit…and Russ had survived…and he kept on surviving.

And he'd become the most important thing in Daryl's life…and aside from his brother, his sister in law, and a couple of people he could call halfway decent friends…he'd pretty much become the only thing in Daryl's life.

Part of the story done for the night, Daryl could tell that Russ was growing sleepy, even though if he'd asked him, he would have insisted that he wasn't.

Daryl eased out of the bed, hearing the boy's protests, and he dropped down on his knees so he could slide his son's body into the middle of the bed. He tucked Smuckers into place and tucked the blanket around Russ's body.

"Ya gotta pee?" Daryl asked.

Russ shook his head.

"Ya sure?" Daryl asked.

Russ nodded.

Daryl chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Fine…but if ya think ya might…go potty, alright? Try not ta piss the bed…" Daryl said.

Russ nodded, his eyelids a dead giveaway that he'd be asleep before too long.

Daryl leaned and kissed the boy's forehead before he pushed himself up.

"Night Russ…love ya buddy," Daryl said, his hand hovering over the light switch.

"Night Daddy…love ya too…" Russ said back, ending it with a yawn.

Daryl smiled to himself and flipped the light off, cracking the door as he headed through the trailer to put the house in order, grab a quick shower for himself, and get some sleep before he had to get up and do it all over again.

No…being a single father might not be anyone's idea of a good damn life…and it might be the worst thing that Daryl could have ever decided to do.

But of all the regrets that Daryl Dixon had…and he had quite a few…Russ wasn't one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Since I forgot to add it in the first chapter…I also do not own Humpty Dumpty…you know…in case you weren't sure.**

**Wow! You guys flatter me with the excitement already! Thank you for the reviews! They always make me feel loved!**

**Here's another chapter, giving us a little insight into Carol. I feel like I need to say that this, like many of my stories, is not going to be an "instant Caryl" story…so please be patient. I'll get us there…but I like building the story. **

**Also, as always, I don't always stick to fully realistic details…suspension of disbelief is needed, expected, and appreciated.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! Your reviews are always loved and appreciated! **

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"I know it's not Buckingham Palace…but the rent's going at a great price…" Alice declared as she showed Carol into the living room of the house they'd be sharing.

Carol looked around quickly and tried to take the place in. It would be her new home…her new chance for a fresh start.

And it wasn't impressive…not really.

Alice had been her best friend ever since they'd gone to undergraduate school together. They'd roomed together for four years in a rinky dink dorm and lived off of Ramen noodles and their dreams about what they'd be and how they'd save the world.

And Alice was maybe a step closer to saving the world than Carol was. She was a heart surgeon…a beginner, really...but her longevity in the field aside, she was a doctor and every day she came up against the possibility of saving a life or losing one and she hoped for the best...at least that's what Carol got from the information that Alice had filled in for her quickly on the phone.

Carol wasn't, at least in her opinion, much of anything. She had finished her education degree, barely, before marrying Ed…the worst mistake of her life. She was going to teach high school English, and though it wouldn't save lives, she'd thought it would be a nice life.

She'd never gotten that chance, though, because once she married Ed, he had other plans for her.

And those plans mostly involved being a house wife since she learned, though she'd never expected it in the beginning, that Ed had a jealous streak and he didn't want to share her with anyone…not even students who would probably hate her for suggesting that they read great works of literature instead of trashy magazines that told them the all-important keys to life like how to get themselves noticed by their crush.

Carol was free from Ed now, though, a clean break in her opinion…though lawyers might see it a bit different when she finally found one…and despite all the years that she'd neglected even so much as speaking to her friend, Alice had been there for her when she'd called her up, out of the blue and thanked the heavens that Alice was such a creature of habit that she still had the same cell phone number, and now she was helping her get on her feet. She was helping her put her life back together.

"Really," Carol said with a smile. "It's perfect…it's absolutely perfect…I'll go get Sophia."

Carol stepped out of the little house and went to her car…that and the few belongings she had crammed into it being the only things she took out of the marriage that she'd been willing to walk out of without a thing…and opened the back door, carefully easing her sleeping daughter out of the car seat and leaning her against her body so that she didn't disturb her nap too completely.

Carol turned around, almost bumping into Alice who was coming to help her bring her things in, having taken the day off to help Carol move.

Ed was away on business, he'd be gone for a week, and she'd left…taking everything that meant anything to her…without leaving a forwarding address. She figured the details could be handled by a lawyer later. The only thing she'd left was the note that she'd written and stuck to the refrigerator…the note that read:

_I'm leaving you, like I should have done years ago._

She'd lacked any flair for poetry at the moment that she'd written it, but it had been difficult to see through the swollen left eye and the tears.

And she might not have left him then…she might have tried to stick it out, might have accepted another of his halfhearted and sorry ass apologies…but when he'd threatened Sophia, Carol had known that she was going…and she was going like a bat out of hell.

She would be, as she had professed on the phone after the impromptu phone call she made as soon as Ed had left for work, eternally thankful to her friend for being there to offer her a place to land, and a place where she might find her feet again…luckily a state away from Ed Peletier.

She'd packed up everything she had to have, everything that Sophia had to have, and she'd put her daughter in the car, driving straight through…and Alice had taken off of work for a so-called family emergency to be there to greet her and help her get settled in.

Without saying anything Alice started getting stuff out of the back of the car, haphazardly packed in hefty bags and cardboard boxes…anything that Carol could throw it in to get the hell out of there and not have Ed say, later, that she'd taken anything that was his…and then Carol followed her inside the house and followed her to the little room.

"It isn't much…" Alice said, putting down what she was carrying.

The little room…a guest room now turned her room…offered a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. It wasn't much at all, but it was almost enough to make Carol cry…because it was her freedom.

"Oh…" Alice said quickly, "come here…"

She stepped out the room, pushing past Carol and led her to another small room…something that was likely to have been something of an office or maybe a sewing room, a little too small to have been considered a third bedroom.

"I thought…you know…Sophia needed something…and don't worry about it…I'll get my shit out of here, but you know…a couple of hours," Alice said apologetically.

The room at the moment had boxes and such…stuff that Alice was obviously storing there…crammed to the side against the wall and in the middle of it was a crib. Carol hadn't even been expecting that much, honestly.

"I don't know what kids need…but I put out an all-points bulletin at the hospital and one of the nurses, she had her husband bring this over last night. I washed the thing down…and I washed the sheets…I'm so sorry it's not much," Alice offered.

Carol walked slowly into the room and eased her daughter down into the crib.

Sophia didn't need much because she'd been taught not to expect much…but she was going to have so much more now. Carol was going to see to that. She was going to have everything that she needed and everything that she wanted if Carol could give it to her.

But more than anything, she was going to be safe from a man who had never wanted her anyway and had resented her the two years that she'd been on the Earth.

Alice walked over, looking into the crib. It was her first clear view of the baby, and Carol stepped out of the way, glancing at her friend.

"Carol…she's beautiful…perfect…just like her mama," Alice said.

Carol smiled, feeling her throat closing up against all the emotions…feeling it close up with the fatigue that was setting in from her whirlwind adventure…and from the feeling of finally being safe and being able to rest. It all came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks and she was relieved to find the warm embrace of a friend, suddenly, surrounding her.

And once she was wrapped in the embrace, Carol let some of the tears slip out and was thankful that Alice was willing not to try to stop them…instead she let them flow…and when Carol sniffed and rubbed her nose against Alice's shoulder without thinking, Alice tightened her grip around Carol's waist and leaned back, like she had so many times before, and lifted Carol the half inch off the ground that the move allowed her, laughing lightly in her ear.

"You're going to throw your back out doing that," Carol mumbled as soon as Alice rested her feet back down. "You don't need to do that anymore."

Alice smiled and winked at Carol.

"And you don't need to tell me what to do, Carol Ann," Alice teased.

Carol shook her head slightly.

"I can't thank you enough for this…I know that all those times…I should have called…" Carol started, knowing that she couldn't explain herself. She couldn't explain why she hadn't called…why she'd let Ed take over her life and cut her off from everyone and everything she'd ever known.

And now…even with just the few hours of freedom that she had…she felt like she'd been weak to allow him that.

But Alice just smiled at her and shook her head.

"Hey…I don't make braided friendship bracelets with everyone," Alice said. "You don't have to thank me…it's what the hell we do for each other, right?"

Carol sighed and nodded her head.

"You just don't know…" Carol started and Alice shushed her out loud.

"I mean it…Carol…you don't owe me anything. These rooms were empty…and now they're not…and hell…I get lonely sometimes…it'll be nice to have you two around. And I get to know Sophia…" Alice said.

Carol smiled and glanced back at her daughter who was sleeping…her daughter who could have slept through wars being fought because she'd done it so many times.

"She's going to love you," Carol said.

Alice smiled.

"And I already love her," Alice said. "She's gotta be damn near perfect if you made her."

Carol sighed.

Alice hadn't changed since college…not really. She was still the same old Alice…the person that had walked Carol through all of her existential moments and had talked her off of education ledges.

The years had taken, definitely away from both of them, some of the shine of youth…but for a moment, just standing there, Carol was transferred back to feeling like she was barely twenty again, and the world was full of possibility and wonder.

"She is perfect…" Carol said. "I only wish…I wish that Ed wasn't even in the picture at all…I wish she hadn't even had to know him."

"Meh…" Alice responded. "She'll forget about him…she'll pull through. Let's go get the rest of your stuff…"

Carol nodded and went out with her to the car. There wasn't much left to get and both of them loaded their arms down and closed the vehicle up.

It seemed sad to Carol that all the years of her life could be reduced to such a petty amount of stuff…but then it wasn't really the stuff that was important and she was easily reminded that the most important thing she had in her life…the thing that made it even worth going on some mornings, was already inside and sleeping in a second hand crib.

She had sacrificed a lot of herself to her husband. She'd let go of dreams and she'd let go of even her own dignity at times…she'd lost so much that she couldn't even begin to count it all. But she wasn't going to let him hurt her daughter.

Sophia was her reason for living…and she was her reason for choosing to give another go at life…and she was determined to devote everything she had to making sure that Sophia's life was wonderful and perfect…as perfect as it could be.

When all of Carol's things were in her room, she rustled around unpacking only what she absolutely had to have to make it through the rest of the day and the night. She found Sophia's things…things that she'd have to have…and she put the aside for when the girl woke up.

Alice sat on the bed and watched her.

"You haven't said anything," Carol said. "I thought you'd…I don't know…scold me…tell me what an idiot I am…for letting a man do this to me."

Carol turned around from where she was going through boxes and looked at Alice who was wearing a serious face for the moment. She'd said nothing about the bruises…nothing about the busted lip…nothing about the frantic phone call where Carol declared that he'd threatened to break Sophia's neck…she'd said nothing about any of it…and that wasn't the Alice that Carol had lived with for four years.

Alice shrugged.

"I figured you didn't need me to say anything," Alice said. "I don't know what there is to say…"

Carol chuckled lightly.

"Tell me I fucked up? Tell me that I threw my life away for a man? Tell me that I made the biggest mistake that I could make and that I'm an idiot?" Carol responded, slightly bitterer than she meant to sound…really her frustrations weren't directed at her friend.

Alice shook her head, smiling softly.

"That's you talking chicky…not me," Alice said. She was quiet for a moment. "How about…I just say that you're getting your shit together…and you've got the cutest damn kid I've ever seen…and I got Grease and Thelma and Louise…a bottle of wine…and a Chinese menu…and I'm paying so we're not splitting the fucking egg rolls this time?"

Carol nodded her head, unable to find words at the moment around the lump in her throat that came from her own disappointment in herself and the fact that she was amazed that someone else could forgive her for what she couldn't even forgive herself for.

"Wash your face…change your clothes…whatever you're gonna do," Alice said. "I'ma get my pajamas and order…you still like Sesame Chicken?"

Carol smiled.

"Yeah…I do," she said.

Alice got up from the bed.

"Fine…oh and there's apple juice in the fridge…and milk…you didn't tell me what the hell kids eat," Alice declared walking out of the room.

Carol sat down on the bed once Alice had walked out, holding Sophia's pajamas in her hands that she'd dug out of the bag.

And she felt good…she was going to be alright. Sophia was going to be fine…and she was safe from Ed. And as long as Sophia was happy and loved and her life was good…Carol was going to be just fine.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here we go, another chapter! **

**I just want to remind everyone who knows my stories that it takes me a while to get to the Caryl thing…and right now we're still setting up the story. If you don't read, please be patient. We get there…but we get there slowly. **

**Also, please remember that I'm doing a little playing around here, so I'm taking some characters way out of their elements. I hope you'll still enjoy.**

**I hope you like this chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"Can I sleep with Anandrea?" Russ called from the backseat.

"No…" Daryl responded.

"But why? If Anandrea says it I can?" Russ asked.

"No…" Daryl responded again. "Ya got school tomorrow…ya ain't spendin' the night with Aunt Andrea…we goin' ta eat supper an' then ya goin' home…sleep in ya own bed."

Russ was in love with Andrea. He'd been in love with her for most of his life, Daryl suspected. They'd realized that he was in love probably about the time he was a little over one and they'd caught him standing beside her while she sat on the couch, rubbing his hand up and down her leg while offering her the sideways grin that he had.

And Merle had joked that the only thing that would have made it better…would have sealed the deal more completely…would have been if he had the ability to ask her some kind of cheesy ass pick up line like what the hell was her sign or if it hurt to fall her ass from heaven.

It had only gotten worse as Russ had gotten older. He'd declared, after seeing some damn body get married on a Disney movie, that he was going to marry Andrea…and when he discovered that she was already married to Uncle Merle…he didn't see it so much as a deterrent as much as he saw it as Merle was his uncle…and the man to be bested for the love of the woman.

The woman he also suspected was an angel…thanks to the stupid ass tree topper angel that Daryl had bought for Christmas last year without even realizing that, though he thought it looked more like Dolly Parton, Russ was going to think it was it was a mini-Andrea and was going to consequently curl himself up in the floor and cry when Daryl boxed his doll up to put it in the attic until Christmas came around again.

But Daryl couldn't complain too much. Honestly Merle and Andrea had been the biggest support system he had since Russ was born and if it hadn't been for them he'd probably have lost his mind in the beginning.

And a natural crush on the main woman in Russ' life was, perhaps, a small price to pay. And Daryl figured it was only natural…since he also had a somewhat developing crush on the old lady who picked him up after his little classes and watched him until after Daryl got off work…and he had a crush on the young woman who taught his little classes…but none of the crushes compared to Andrea.

When Daryl pulled up in front of his brother's house, Russ was out of his car seat and waiting on his freedom from the car before Daryl could get out good. Russ had learned to buckle and unbuckle his seat so well on his own that he could usually get it done faster than Daryl could have if he'd tried.

Daryl opened the door to get Russ out and handed him his little dinosaur backpack of toys to keep him entertained.

"Got my dinoswars?" Russ asked.

Daryl nodded at him.

"My trucks?" Russ asked.

"Got them too…start checkin' ya bag at the house…" Daryl said. "Let's go in…"

"My cwayons?" Russ asked, looking into the backseat of the truck as though he were going to find everything there that he might want…and he really might have because nearly everything in the truck belonged to him.

"Ya got crayons in the house…" Daryl said. "Go…Andrea's on the porch…"

Russ's eyes lit up and he darted then, around the truck, carrying the bag that was slightly too big for him and hanging off his shoulder, bouncing as he ran.

Daryl chuckled and closed up the truck, starting up the porch too where the door was left ajar for him to let himself in now that Russ had been taken inside.

Daryl stepped into the house and clasped hands with Merle who was sitting in his recliner. Andrea was already on the couch with Russ sitting across her lap, facing her. Daryl walked over and leaned down, planting a kiss on the cheek she raised up to him.

"Ya lookin' good…" he commented. "Been what…two whole damn days?"

Andrea chuckled.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Andrea declared.

Russ was digging his fingertips into Andrea's stomach and she flinched.

"Want me ta get him off ya?" Daryl asked.

She shook her head and turned her attention to the little boy, moving one of the hands that was keeping him from tipping backwards and tickled his stomach, making him squirm and push at her hands.

"Remember…the Tweedles are in my tummy…so you have to be gentle…no gauging," Andrea said.

Russ quietly apologized and Daryl ruffled his hair and crossed the room to sit on the other small couch, sighing with the tiredness of his bones when he sat.

"Been a long damn time…" Merle growled at him and then chuckled.

"Yeah…what? Damn hour? Two?" Daryl asked. He and Merle worked at the same shop together…they had for as long as Daryl could remember…so they never went too long without seeing one another. "What the hell we eatin'?"

"Spo-ghet-ti," Merle drawled out. "Wanna beer?"

Daryl shook his head. Merle knew he wouldn't accept the beer, even though Merle had one in his hand at the moment, but the offer was always made regardless.

Merle and Andrea had been married for going on six years if Daryl remembered correctly. It had surprised the hell out of him to hear his brother declare that he'd found the woman he loved after he'd dated Andrea for no more than three months.

Until that point, Daryl wasn't so sure his brother even had the capacity to love anyone…at least not in that way. He'd been something of a hound, always sniffing about, when it came to women.

But apparently, Merle had been pretty damn serious about Andrea…and even though the two of them bantered back and forth a good deal and spent a lot of their time pretending they hated each other…the truth was that Daryl figured there were never two people more in love before.

And they'd been trying for all those years to have kids…a yard full of Dixons, Merle had teased in the beginning. But three miscarriages later and they'd started to figure that it wasn't in the cards for them…they weren't the kind of people that ended up having kids.

It was something that Daryl never understood, either, once Russ had come along.

He loved Russ more than he thought it was possible to love another human being…there was no doubt about that. He'd have cut his own arm off if someone said they needed it to make the boy alright…just to make him feel better if he was sick.

But Heather…Russ's mother…certainly hadn't loved Russ. And Daryl hadn't really loved Heather. They'd been fucking around and they got caught…and from that they got Russ.

So it always seemed odd to him to think that two people who'd done the right thing…two people that had gone about it the right damn way…had gotten their hopes up so many damn times just to have them shot right through the head.

But now it didn't seem to be the case and everyone was holding their breath. Andrea had turned up pregnant again…this time not even earning excitement from Merle when he'd told Daryl, because he'd already figured, right from the world go that they'd lose it…and on top of that, they'd found out recently that they were expecting a two for one deal.

And even though Daryl wasn't much a man for prayer, he hoped for their sake that their luck got turned around with the Tweedles…as Merle had taken to referring to the two tiny babies that they were trying to keep safe and warm long enough for them to bake like they ought to.

"Come on Russ," Andrea said after a moment. "Come with me to check the spaghetti, OK?"

"Spbuzzghetti!" Russ declared as he found his feet on the floor and took off running…about the only speed he knew at which to travel…toward the kitchen.

Andrea chuckled, shaking her head, and got up to follow the boy.

"Come on boys…if it isn't ready, it will be soon…you might as well start getting settled at the table," Andrea declared as she left the room.

Daryl got up from where he was sitting and went into the kitchen with Merle following close behind him.

"Sit at the table, Russ," Daryl declared.

His son was far too hyper at the moment, but that was to be expected. It didn't matter that they came over there at least every other day for dinner…it was always a special occasion to Russ.

Daryl pulled the chair out with Russ's booster seat in it and picked him up, sitting him down in it and sliding it closer to the table. He pulled out the chair next to him and started to sit down.

"Anandrea sits there!" Russ declared.

Daryl stopped before his ass ever hit the chair and stood up, chuckling. He shook his head and bowed slightly at the little boy who was kicking his legs against the chair in anticipation of his meal.

"Excuse me," Daryl said. "So damn rude a' me ta forget where Andrea sits…"

Andrea laughed from where she was doling out spaghetti onto plates. And Daryl took a seat on the other side of the table with Merle sitting at the head of the table.

Andrea passed out plates and made a sippy cup of juice for Russ. She passed around glasses of iced tea and finally took her own seat, starting to cut Russ's noodles up with the edge of her fork.

With all the pomp and circumstance that was ever put into a meal done at the Dixon household now out of the way, Daryl dug into his spaghetti and commented that it was "damn good" as he did with everything that he ate there…even if it was nothing more than a ham sandwich.

"What they learn ya ass at school today, Russ?" Merle asked the little boy who was happily eating spaghetti now and already wearing more of it than he was possibly getting into his mouth.

"Umm…ya know…just 'portant stuff…" Russ declared.

Daryl chuckled to himself.

Russ was just shy of four and going on forty…and everyone who knew Russ at all saw it that way.

Daryl didn't know if he was doing his son an injustice sometimes, but he talked to the kid pretty much like he'd talk to anyone else and he insisted that everyone else do the same. He wasn't interested in making him think that people talked some kind of special way just to have it be a surprise to the boy later that they didn't. And maybe it was parenting done wrong…but Daryl just didn't feel like being the kind of guy that tried to hide reality from his son. He was willing to soften some shit…but he wasn't hiding anything.

"What kind of important stuff?" Andrea asked, reaching over to wipe some of the excess sauce off the boy's face.

"'Portant stuff like lizards an' lollipops all is L," Russ said.

"Lizards and lollipops do start with L," Andrea said.

"Know what else starts with an L, lil' brother?" Merle asked with a chuckle, wiping his face with a napkin.

Daryl shot his brother a look. He couldn't think off the top of his head what Merle might say, but knowing Merle it was inappropriate and his only hope could be that it sailed right over Russ's head because he was caught in a cloud of bliss caused by spaghetti and the proximity of Andrea.

"Love…" Merle said. "I'm serious…ya gonna give that lil' woman a call?"

Daryl frowned at his brother and shot a quick glance toward Andrea, who was looking at him with a smirk on her face that meant he didn't even have to ask if Merle had gone running his mouth to her.

"Hell no…I ain't lookin' ta get tangled up in that mess again…an' I sure ain't trustin' Wren's judgement on women he an' Mac went out shoppin' for at a damn bar…" Daryl protested. "'Sides…who the hell they are thinkin' they gon' go out lookin' for somebody for me…like I need some kinda damn redneck fairy godmothers in my life or somethin'…"

"Fairy godmothers give presents," Russ chimed in. Andrea snorted.

"Yes they do…fairy godmothers give presents...but your daddy doesn't want presents," Andrea said. "Not from his fairy godmothers…Wren and Mac…"

Daryl shot her a look to go with the one that he'd given Merle earlier.

"We just worried 'bout'cha Derlina," Merle commented. "You workin' on yaself one helluva dry spell…"

Daryl glanced at Russ, now waiting for his second helping of spaghetti to be cut up that Andrea scraped over from her plate where she'd put it to cool.

"I ain't lookin' for the kinda woman ya meet at no bar, Merle…know what kinda woman that is…an' I ain't tryin' ta end up there again," Daryl said. "I'm too damn busy anyway…ain't got time for that shit."

"Met Andrea at a bar…" Merle offered. "An' she's a fine upstandin' citizen…ever'body at the hospital thinks so."

Daryl shook his head.

"Ain't what I meant an' ya know it," Daryl responded. "I got all the hell I need…ain't lookin' for no woman."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hi there…so this is just another little "setting the scene" chapter for this story. Just so we get a little more where our characters are standing when we start putting things into play. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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In the month that Carol had been there, there was a growing optimism in her about her life. And part of it was fed, no doubt, by the fact that Alice in herself was often bubbling over with optimism, but it was also fed because things were going her way…and she had every reason in the world to believe that she might have found an escape…she might have found her pot of gold.

And really, the things that were going her way, and the things that inspired such optimism in her might have been silly or ridiculous when presented to someone, but they meant a good deal to her. She had found a lawyer…a nice woman who was willing to work with a lawyer representing Ed…to get her divorced, and maybe to get her some sort of financial compensation, though Carol really cared for that very little if walking away without anything meant walking away without ever having to lay eyes on Ed Peletier again.

And she was fighting for custody of her daughter, but it didn't appear that it would be much of a battle because Ed didn't want the child…he'd never wanted her…and the only fight he might put up was simply for trying to hurt Carol, but her lawyer was optimistic that they could fight back easily enough.

And she had interviewed with and already had a position to start the new school year working at the high school in the little town she now called home…so that in less than a month, she'd be earning an income and she could contribute something to the household, not that Alice made any mention of the fact that she was more or less supporting them at the moment.

So, no matter how small her victories were, they were huge for her and the pointed in the direction of a new start and a new life. A new life where she could live out from under the thumb of her ex-husband and she could sleep peacefully at night without worrying that her daughter, crying in the night like any two year old might, could anger the man into hurting her.

Sophia was happy with the change too…and Carol didn't know if it was because she felt lighter and she was doing better…and therefore Sophia simply fed off of that…or if it was because she liked Alice and Alice was good with her…and her home life at the moment was more about laughter and playing than it was about trying to be quiet or risk angering Ed into some kind of explosion.

Whatever the reason, though, the little girl was happy and didn't seem disrupted at all, really, about the change in her situation. They'd gone and bought her, instead of the crib, a toddler bed and she seemed to like it, even though she had a preference for being allowed to sleep with either Carol or Alice if she could love one of them into submission just at bedtime.

And she hadn't so much as mentioned Ed. There had been no requests…or at least not a single one that Carol had witnessed…for Dada.

So along with her growing optimism, there was also something negative invading Carol's senses from time to time.

She realized, more than ever, what a mistake she'd made by staying with Ed…by ever being with him in the first place. She realized, when she saw that her two year old didn't seem to miss him or even notice at all the absence of the man who was, biologically, her father, exactly what kind of man he was and what kind of life she had almost let her child be subjected to.

And in a lot of ways, she felt a certain sense of failure. Part of that failure was amplified when she thought about how peaceful her life had been since she'd moved there…how easy it was to get along with Alice when she was home from the hospital…how wonderful her friend was with a little girl that she hadn't known until a month before but who now considered her something of a favorite person.

The failure came when Carol sat back, in the moments where she picked apart every detail of herself and every failure that she made along the way to end up where she was, and she realized that she had lived more happily in a month with this person than she had her entire marriage to Ed.

And the failure, perhaps, on her part was that she failed for so long to realize that, unlike the thoughts she'd always had about it, she didn't need Ed. She didn't need him at all…and she didn't like him...but she'd failed to see that. She'd let her fear of being alone, her fear of being seen as a bad wife or a bad mother, her fear of being seen as someone who failed at something as simple as marriage, be what kept her tied to a man that she had fallen out of love with and who had clearly fallen out of love with her, if he'd ever loved her to begin with.

Carol sat on the couch, their dinner done, and watched the movie that played on television. She supposed that some negativity was to be expected…some feeling of failure. She had simply expected that the failure would be more about the fact that her marriage had fallen apart, and not her sudden wish that she'd never been in the marriage at all or that it had fallen apart earlier.

Alice was on the floor, lying on her back, while Sophia…wearing her pajamas since it was almost time for that little princess to turn into a pumpkin…was crawling over her and laughing, playing some sort of game that was akin, perhaps, to king of the mountain.

"She needs to settle down…" Carol said.

Alice rolled her head so that she was looking in Carol's direction.

"What?" She asked.

Carol nodded her head.

"She needs to settle down. She's got to go to bed soon and if she doesn't settle down, then she's not going to want to sleep…you're riling her up before bedtime and she needs to settled down," Carol responded.

Alice made a face, but pushed herself into a sitting position and grabbed Sophia, pulling her to her in a hug that just made the girl squeal more because she hadn't figured out that this was the end of the game and not simply a new step to it.

"So…this is day two of Carol being bitchy apparently for no good reason," Alice said. "I'm going to come right out and ask it…what the hell's going on? I mean…did I do something to you? Did someone else do something to you? Are you on the rag? Your fucking underwear too tight? What the hell is it?"

Carol sighed and shook her head. She'd been a little snappy, perhaps, while tangled up in her contemplation of things.

"No…it's just…you're so damn good with Sophia," Carol said.

Alice chuckled, absentmindedly pulling Sophia's fingers away every time that she tried to stick them in her mouth in an effort to get her to pay attention to her pleas for "more" which evidently meant more of the game that Carol had interrupted.

"What do you want?" Alice asked. "Hell…I love babies…and we get each other…I'm not too much more mature than she is."

Carol could tell now that her friend was playing around. She wasn't bothered about her snapping at her, which was a good thing…but she was obviously not understanding what Carol was trying to say…and why should she? It didn't even make sense to Carol when she tried to pick it apart and put her finger on what was bothering her.

Carol sighed again.

"It's just hard…you know? Thinking that for so long…I thought to myself that things would get better with Ed…I thought to myself that he'd learn to love Sophia…and when things just got worse? I convinced myself he was right…all the trouble…all the problems…they were me, and they were Sophia," Carol said. "It was my fault and she was just a bad baby and I didn't know it…and yet…in less than a month…she's eating out of your hands and preferring you to give her a bath…and you love her."

Alice chuckled and furrowed her brows in slight confusion.

"Because I love her…" Alice said. "Because she's a cute damn kid and she's happy all the time…because when she gets upset, it's the most trivial shit ever…like the soap fell in the tub…and it's over before it even gets going good because her problems are problems that you can get control of. I love kids because kids make me feel like I'm good at something…they make me feel like…I'm less of a fuck up than I feel like I am everywhere else. But that shouldn't be hard on you."

Carol shook her head and picked at the couch so that she didn't have to look at Alice.

Alice changed her position, crawling toward Carol on the floor and Sophia lost momentary interest in her human toy and put her efforts into playing with some of the soft, inflatable blocks that Alice had bought for her.

"Carol…Ed was an asshole," Alice said. "And I'm not just saying that…because if you fucked up, then I'd tell you that you fucked up…but there's absolutely not one damn excuse in the world for a man to feel like he should hit a woman…or to feel like he should threaten a fucking toddler."

She shook her head dramatically and put her hand on Carol's leg, drawing Carol's attention so that she'd actually look her in the face instead of focusing on anything she could for distraction.

"There just isn't…" Alice declared again, still shaking her head.

Carol smiled softly at her and shook her head.

"I guess it's just that I'm beating myself up…I felt like I needed him…I felt like I was a failure if I didn't stay with him…that I couldn't even do that right," Carol explained.

Alice nodded her head.

"I just…thought I was doing the right thing," Carol said. "I thought…I was doing the only thing…and now I'm realizing that I wasn't."

"We're all allowed to make mistakes," Alice said. "Hell…we're allowed to totally fuck up…it's human. You did what you thought was right at the time and what you thought you needed to do. Who the hell hasn't done that at some point? The important thing is that now you're moving on with your life…you'll get a job that makes you happy…you'll watch Soph grow into an even bigger, cute little pudgywudget…and you'll move on. And the bastard? One damn day he'll just be another one of the fuck ups that you look back on once in a blue moon and think, damn, I really can be stupid sometimes, can't I?"

Carol chuckled and shook her head.

"I hate you," she said teasingly to Alice.

Alice smiled.

"I hate you so much more…" Alice responded, shaking her head slightly. "And I think…what you need is to get out of this house. I know…I know it's charming and you're loving what I've done with the place…but you need to get the hell out of here. I'm barely home…meet some people, make some friends…try looking for a guy that's not of the Ed variety."

Carol frowned at her.

"Says the woman who never does anything?" Carol challenged. "Besides work…"

Alice smiled.

"Oh…but I have a date on Tuesday," Alice declared. She smiled broadly. "Got the set up from a nurse at work…apparently she's cute…she's smart…she's funny…I'll probably fuck it up in a month tops."

Carol chuckled.

"I thought you loved me and we were getting married?" Carol teased.

Alice hummed.

"I do…but I seem to remember a certain someone kissing me back in college…and I seem to remember the phrase 'like kissing my Aunt Joan' being tossed around…" Alice said.

Carol raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I've changed my mind?" She teased.

Alice chuckled and got to her feet, stretching when she stood up.

"Maybe you have…and if you have…just let it simmer a month or so and eat your heart out in the jealousy of me wrecking yet another relationship," Alice said. "But in the meantime…get your ass out of the house…have a look at the damn sun…and get to know somebody...it might do you a world of good."

Carol frowned at her, but didn't respond.

She didn't know if she was ready for getting to know people and she was pretty sure that she wasn't ready for something as radical as the dating scene, especially not with her credentials.

"I don't think I'm dating material," Carol commented. "Hi…I'm in the middle of a divorce from an abusive husband…oh…and I have a toddler…"

She paused and put her hand up to her face, squinting like she was looking into the distance.

"Wait…where are you going? Come back!" She teased.

Alice chuckled.

"A sense of humor…hold onto that. Coupled with your ridiculous good looks…you'll be beating them off with a stick," Alice said. "Sophia and her cute little ass is just icing on the cake."

Carol made a face at Alice, but Alice wasn't going to take the bait. When she was stuck on something, she was stuck on it and it was best just to let it die down if you didn't want to pursue it any longer…because she wasn't going to get over it.

"Do you want to put Soph down?" Carol asked.

Alice smiled and nodded.

"I think I can do that…I've been meaning to find out what the hell happens at the end of the Cat in the Hat anyway…" Alice said, going to get Sophia so she could bring her for Carol to kiss her goodnight before she took her to put her down…probably ending the evening after that with a movie and the snuggling on the couch for closeness and comfort that both of them had simply agreed not to speak of if anyone were to ask.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter to move this one along! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"I am talking about a date…not a marriage proposal," Alice declared. "That's it…a date…you don't even have to shave if you don't want to…just wear jeans."

The statement only served to increase the depth of Carol's frown. She wasn't sure she was ready to date…dating had only really led to marriage in her life, and that certainly wasn't what she was going for right now. Technically she was still married…the divorce wasn't final…so she certainly wasn't looking to enter into another.

Besides, the more she stewed over it, the more she doubted that she was dating material anymore. She wasn't exactly what everyone painted as the picture of the woman you might want to go out with. She was a woman going through a divorce…and she had a two year old.

"Alice…" Carol started and Alice shook her head at her, offering Sophia, who was playing in the tub in front of her, one of the ducks that had floated out of her reach.

"Don't…I know when you use that tone of voice what's coming next and I just want to say that I'm very disappointed in you if that's what this is…" Alice said.

Carol was sitting on the bathroom counter while Alice bathed Sophia…though the bathing was done now and mostly they were keeping the little girl company and keeping watch over her while she played with her bathtub toys…her reward for not showing out at the scrubbing that had taken place before.

"You're disappointed because I'm not sure that…after everything…I'm ready to start dating again?" Carol asked, a little indignant.

"I'm disappointed because I can hear in your voice that the only damn reason you're not ready to start dating again is because you're over there…fucking nostril deep…in self-doubt," Alice said. "That's Ed…that's not my Carol. Besides…I taught you well in college that you never, ever turn down a free meal. Hell…I've eaten dinner and dessert before with a man before I ever let him in on the little secret that I had less interest in sleeping with him than I had in dousing myself in gasoline and playing with matches…"

Carol snorted.

"Yeah, OK, but you're more alive in the dating scene than I am. You're available, you don't have a child, you don't have a bad marriage and a difficult divorce…" Carol said.

Alice looked at her over her shoulder.

"I have a career that makes me one therapy visit away from being certifiable," Alice declared. "I have a roommate with a kid…which in the lesbian world, let me tell you, looks like life partner…and I am a lesbian in small town Georgia. I have to date underground. I have to make a date look like going to the mall with my bestie…which is why having a roommate looks so damn confusing. It's not all puppy dog tails and roses for any of us doll face."

Carol's only defense against Alice at this moment was to frown. She really had nothing else. What Alice had come through the door, super excited about, was a proposition that was apparently born from a conversation that Alice had with some nurse she worked with at the hospital.

"Listen…I told her that you weren't serious right now. I told her that you just needed to go out…get your feet wet a little bit," Alice continued, arguing her point yet again. "I told her that this wasn't some kind of searching for a husband…and she said that this guy, her brother in law or whatever, would be perfect."

"On what grounds?" Carol asked. "Perfect how? Perfect because he's single and he's a man?"

Alice chuckled and raised her eyebrows at Carol in the split second that she glanced at her, turning her attention away from wrenching the wash cloth out of Sophia's hands and replacing it with a more suitable chew toy.

"Would you rather I find you a woman? I mean I'm open as hell here…just saying…you need to get back in the saddle and you might as well start with a Shetland pony…this guy isn't looking for anything serious either. She said he just needs to be…well…social or some shit," Alice said.

"Well that makes me feel…so much better," Carol said with a chuckle. "What is this guy like…what does he look like? Does he live in his parents' basement…I mean he needs to be social?"

Alice shot her a look and then and got up, leaning down and pulling the plug on the bathtub. Sophia would sit there, in the water, until it all went down the drain. She would keep playing, almost in panic, until there was nothing more than a puddle around the drain…but that was the only way to even remotely begin to convince her that bath time was over.

"Nooo…" Sophia squealed when the water got closer to leaving. "Nooo…water! No…Addie…where water?"

Alice chuckled and scooped Sophia out of the tub, drying her off while the girl still looked remorsefully at the water that was finishing draining.

"Water is going home…going to bed," Alice declared. "And you're going to get your pjs on and go to bed too…just like the water."

Sophia shook her head at Alice, putting her hands on either side of her face as Alice leaned down making sure she was dry.

"No…no bed…no…" Sophia declared.

Carol almost laughed because the girl's tone wasn't one of protest and potential fit. It was one that showed she was clearly positive that she was rationalizing with Alice who had become, without explanation, entirely irrational.

Alice smiled at her and nodded her head.

"Yes…bed…it's wonderful…you're going to love it," Alice declared.

She picked Sophia up, ignoring the rest of her protests, and Carol followed behind her to the little room that they were working on turning into a nursery for Sophia so that she could get her ready for bed.

"And you know, Carol…what does it really matter what he looks like or if he lives in his parents' basement?" Alice asked after a few moments while she was getting Sophia suited up for sleep. "I mean…I don't know a single thing about him…but hell…if you hate him, you've lost nothing. You gained a meal…you gained a chance to get out of the house…apparently an excuse for a shower because even though I really do love the greasy, grimy look on you, I notice when you let showers go by the wayside…what do you lose if you eat dinner with him and you never see him again?"

Carol sighed.

"But what is this going to do with you and your nurse friend? I mean…if I go out with him and I don't like him…is that going to cause you trouble at work?" Carol asked.

She sighed and shook her head.

"Because I don't want that on my mind either," she finished.

Alice shook her head.

"No…Andrea, the nurse? She's cool…" Alice said.

She chuckled and shook her head.

"The way we got to talking? I was kind of…maybe…a little bit…stalking her when I could find her places," Alice said. "I thought she was gay…she was tripping my gaydar off like crazy. But it turns out, she's married…and now she's pregnant…but I asked her out. Flat out, asked her out…took the chance. If she was going to be the type to get her panties twisted about things…she'd have shown it there. I think she's genuinely interested in the same thing I'm interested in…just reminding someone there's a big blue world out there."

Carol knew she really didn't have anything to go on. She really had no reason to say that she absolutely, positively could not even give this guy a dinner with her…but she was still a little reluctant.

"OK," Alice said. "Let's just say that you're worried that he's going to fall in love with you…and you're not going to like basement boy…but what if you're not his type either. It's just fucking dinner, Carol…that's all…just dinner."

Carol sighed.

"Fine," she said.

"What? What was that? Can't hear you…" Alice teased.

"Fine…fine!" Carol declared.

Alice smiled.

"Good! Now are you putting the pudgywudget to bed, or am I?" Alice asked, now riding Sophia on her hip as the girl was leaning against her, apparently sleepy and not too far off from thinking the whole bedtime routine idea was a much better idea than she'd thought before.

"I've got it," Carol said, reaching her hands out to Sophia who came over to her.

Alice kissed the little girl goodnight and patted Carol's shoulder before she left the room and Carol settled down in the second hand rocker they'd acquired on a yard sale adventure to rock her daughter to sleep and to think about what she may have gotten herself into.

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"But what do the talking trees say?" Russ asked Daryl with a yawn once he was out of the little boy's bed and tucking him in.

"They talk ta Hansel, Russ, like I told ya…tell him where ta go 'cause he can't figure out where he is…they like signs or somethin'…" Daryl explained.

Really the talking trees had been just another of his random plot points ripped out of the air in an interest to keep the story going for Russ who seemed to never want Hansel to ever reach his destination…a destination that Daryl wasn't even sure of, so it was probably a pretty good thing that he hadn't made it there yet.

"But what do they say when they're not talking to Hansel?" Russ asked.

Daryl sighed and plugged in the little nightlight.

"Dunno…nothin' I reckon," Daryl responded.

"Then why are they talking trees?" Russ asked.

Daryl chuckled ironically to himself and shook his head.

"They talk ta Hansel…so they talkin' trees…" Daryl said.

"But they don't talk to anybody else? They don't talk to each other?" Russ asked.

These damn trees were going to give Daryl an ulcer…he didn't have a clue what trees talked about…but it appeared that this was very important to Russ and Daryl knew his son well enough to know that if he didn't give him some sort of satisfactory answer, then the kid wouldn't sleep well. He'd be in Daryl's bed in less than two hours and he'd be worried all night about the fate of the damn imaginary trees.

"They talk ta each other, but it's tree talk," Daryl said, scratching his head. "Means ya can't understand it…only use people talk ta talk ta Hansel…or any other people gets lost in they forest."

Russ furrowed his brows and nodded very serious and Daryl held back the smile that he felt coming on. This was satisfactory…at least for the moment. The kid might sleep now.

"What does tree talk sound like?" Russ asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Don't know…I'm a person…can't hear it," Daryl said. "Neither can you…ya ain't got the ears for it."

Daryl tucked Russ in once more and kissed his forehead and then offered up his cheek for Russ to kiss him back.

"Go ta sleep now…gotta be awake for school tomorrow…Miss Maggie's got big plans for ya an' ya can't tell her you was up all night worryin' over tree talk ya ain't never gonna be able ta hear…" Daryl said.

"Night daddy," Russ said.

Daryl smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Night Russ…love ya…" Daryl responded.

"Love ya too," Russ said with another yawn.

Daryl left the room, flipping the switch on the overhead light as he went and left the door cracked so that Russ, who wasn't a master at doorknobs yet so they slowed him down, could escape if he had to go to the bathroom or needed to alert Daryl to any yet unseen monsters.

By the time that Daryl slipped into his own bed, he was tired enough that he doubted sincerely it would take him too much longer than a few minutes to drift off entirely.

He closed his eyes, thinking over the day and thinking over the proposition that Andrea had called him with…she was insisting, even though he didn't like the idea, that she and Merle keep Russ on Friday night. He was supposed to be going on some kind of blind date that she'd set up without asking him…some kind of blind date that she thought would be wonderful for him to go on…and he'd agreed, mostly because he hadn't felt like he had much of a choice. Andrea had set it up already and the woman was going to be expecting to go on a date.

He figured, though, that it wouldn't take too long for the date to be just as over as it could be. If he liked her, which he wasn't sure that he would, then it wouldn't take more than the mention of Russ to send her running for the hills. If he didn't like her…well, he was pretty good at playing it pretty cold when he just wasn't interested.

But he'd at least go on the date…figuring that it would be pretty bad to just stand some woman up that he didn't even know. And, at least if he went on it, he could use that to keep Merle and Andrea off his back and away from telling him he needed to get out more…he needed to meet someone…for at least a while.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So someone mentioned it and I got to thinking about how I haven't been back here in a bit…so I've got another little chapter for you here.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Bye bye…bye bye momby…bye bye…" Sophia chanted at Carol.

The poor child had been chanting bye bye from her spot on the couch, a bowl of goldfish in her lap and the promise of some cartoon movie with Alice on her mind, since Carol had started trying to leave ten minutes earlier.

"Bye Bye baby," Carol declared yet again.

"Are you ever leaving?" Alice asked, watching Carol as she passed through the house again, this time because she forgot her phone.

"Phone…" Carol said. "Now you promise that you'll call me if anything happens…or if I need to come home…and don't give Sophia peanuts…"

Alice chuckled.

"Can you leave, please? You're going to be late to your date and I only have the wild horses on loan for another two hours…so I've got to get my little torture show on the road…" Alice declared.

Carol frowned.

She was, perhaps, forgetting everything she might need on purpose in an unconscious attempt to sabotage her date, but she didn't want to admit that even if it were the case.

Still, she rushed over to couch, offered Sophia another kiss on the cheek and accepted the goldfish that the little girl forced into her mouth, and then she finally declared that she was really leaving…for real…for good this time…before she slipped out of the door and checked her phone, making sure it was on, and heading down to her car to drive to the restaurant.

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"Don't beat up on ya Aunt Andrea…an' ya go ta bed when the hell they tell ya to or I'ma hear about it an' tear ya tail up," Daryl said, hugging Russ against him.

He was pretending that his biggest concern was how Russ would handle the evening…but really he knew that Russ would be fine. Russ loved Merle and Andrea, and for him a night at their house was the equivalent for most kids of going to Disneyland.

Really Daryl felt like the acid in his stomach was chewing a hole in it because he was nervous as hell about the date. He hadn't been on a date, not really, since long before Russ was even born. He wasn't even sure, at this point, that he remembered how to go on a date.

But he didn't want to admit that because it would just lead to ribbing by Merle and he couldn't handle that on top of his nerves…and on top of knowing that Russ wouldn't even be at the house when the date was done.

"He's gon' be fine," Merle said, wrenching the little boy out of Daryl's arms. Russ went willing enough to Uncle Merle…maybe it was Daddy who was holding on a little tighter than he had to.

"Y'all don't let him stay up all damn night," Daryl said.

Merle chuckled.

"Get the hell outta here, boy! Go have some damn fun…meet'cha nice lil' lady…let us handle the damn kid," Merle declared.

Daryl sighed and nodded his head. He leaned his forehead against Russ's forehead.

"Love ya, buddy…sleep good an' ya call me if ya can't sleep, OK? I'll come an' get'cha…" Daryl said.

"I'm sleepin' with Anandrea…" Russ said. "I can!"

Daryl chuckled and shook his head. He was sunk. Russ wasn't going to call and rescue him from his date. Merle and Andrea had the damn secret weapon.

"Love ya," Daryl repeated.

"Love you too…" Russ said, but it was clear that his interest was already being turned to the house that he hadn't been allowed inside of yet…the tower where his princess was being held captive by the ogre Merle.

Daryl ruffled Russ's hair, figured there was no need in prolonging the inevitable, and handed Merle Russ's overnight bag before slipping down the stairs to get going. He accepted Merle's good luck that was tossed at him and hoped that at least the night wouldn't be terrible.

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For all of his attempts to be late, Daryl showed up to the restaurant a little earlier than his date was supposed to meet him there. He requested a table and sat waiting with the little remote control in his hand that would buzz when it was time to go to wherever they'd be sitting.

He looked through the notes in his phone that Andrea had made there.

His date was named Carol. He would recognize her because she was a redhead. She had a roommate named Alice…and she needed to get out of the house. She would know to ask for Dixon, party of two.

What a wealth of information, he thought to himself as he closed his phone. He hated dates…he actually hated dating even before Russ had been born. He'd never been much good at it.

It felt awkward. It felt like a job interview…but it was really more like an interview for spending time together. Here…fill out this questionnaire…and if you answer enough questions correctly you win the grand prize of getting to spend even more awkward time with my ass until I decide whether or not I like you.

And if I like you…you might win some sex…it might be good or it might not, that's really part of the gamble. You also win, undoubtedly, a whole bunch of random ass arguments that you'll never win…possibly some of my obnoxious family in your face at one time or another…and a chance to be entered for the grand prize…some of the biggest damn disappointment of your life.

And the more that Daryl stewed over it, the more he wondered if he should balk entirely on the date and get the hell out of there. He hadn't loved Heather…not one damn bit…but he'd thought that there would be something between them for Russ's sake. And, in a lot of ways, he still wasn't over the fact that Heather had run out.

He wasn't even bothered that much, truth be told, that she ran out on him…he could understand that. He wasn't a daisy. He was bothered that she'd run the hell out on Russ.

And maybe that had lowered his confidence in women in a good deal…and maybe, if he was honest with himself, it was one of the reasons that he hadn't dated.

Daryl sat studying the plastic thing that hadn't gone off. He considered, if no one was watching, taking out his pocket knife and taking the damn thing apart for entertainment value…just to see how the thing worked.

But then he heard something that caught his attention.

"I'm looking for…Dixon? He might already be here…I'm a little late…" the voice said.

Daryl looked up and after a second he got to his feet, making his way out of the little area where he was waiting on a bench beside two other people.

"Carol?" He asked.

The woman's head jerked at the mention of the name…she couldn't have denied it was her, even if she'd wanted to.

She stared at him a moment, like someone who hadn't been expecting what had just happened, and then she smiled, nodding her head slightly.

"Daryl?" She asked.

Daryl nodded his head, smiling at her.

At least if Andrea was sending him on a blind date…she'd chosen someone who was nice to look at.

And as soon as the thought ran through Daryl's mind, he almost turned and walked away from his silent embarrassment.

But he had his doubts about what Andrea might hook him up with…he'd had his doubts about the woman who needed to be social…the woman who needed to get out of the house…the woman desperate enough to go on a blind date with the likes of him.

Now, looking at her, though, he couldn't see why this woman would need a blind anything. She was nicely built, had a cute smile from what she'd offered of it, an abundance of red curls, and shockingly blue eyes that would have drawn his attention from across the room even if she hadn't already uttered his last name.

Which led him to be concerned, next, that he was about to subjected to a few hours of the most painful conversation known to man.

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"So I'll be starting work at the high school next month…" Carol said, boring herself, but it was the question that he'd asked, so she was answering it. "But I guess you could say that at the moment I'm technically unemployed."

Daryl took a long drink out of the coke that sat beside him on the table, nodding his head like he was interested in the small talk that they were engaging in.

"I work at a shop," he said when he swallowed. "Work on cars…it ain't no glamour job…but it pays the bills, ya know?"

Carol smiled and nodded her head.

She felt so out of place on a date. She couldn't say that she even knew what the right thing to say was or the right thing to do. Part of her was screaming that she should go ahead…lay it out on the table. She was a divorcee. Her abusive ex-husband lived in the next state. She had a two year old daughter and for another month was mooching off her best friend.

She felt like she should put it out there so the poor man could run for the hills.

Because the man sitting across the table from her was not the basement boy that her imagination had painted up for her. Her imagination had created some awful images…and she'd prepared herself to have already heard about all of his delightfully antisocial hobbies…but he didn't seem like what she'd thought he'd be…he seemed…normal.

And he was handsome…ruggedly so, but handsome nonetheless.

She couldn't figure out, exactly, why he even needed blind dates to be in the dating world at all. And that almost made her nervous because she worried that he was hiding just as many cards as she was.

"Working on cars…" she offered. "Sounds like fun."

Daryl smiled.

"Yeah…if ya like that kinda thing…ya like cars?" He asked.

Carol shrugged.

The correct answer would probably be yes…pretend his interests were your interests. Wasn't that how the dating game went? That's how it had always been with Ed.

In fact, if she'd been brutally honest, Carol wasn't too sure what she did and didn't like. It had been a long time since someone had asked her opinion, and it had been even longer since someone sincerely wanted it. When she'd been married to Ed there had been little concern about what she was interested in. It was her job, more or less, to be interested only in whatever he liked.

"I mean…I never really thought about it," she confessed. "I like that they get me where I need to be…but I don't know much about them other than that."

Daryl laughed and Carol assumed that what she had either said had been an acceptable answer or it was so ridiculous that he was laughing at her now.

"Reckon that's all the hell most people know 'bout 'em," Daryl admitted. "'Bout all the hell ya need ta know if ya don't work on 'em…"

Carol felt a little relieved. At least he wasn't laughing at her, not really. He was simply laughing because she knew nothing about what he'd asked her about…and she wasn't going to venture to ask him his opinions on any great literary works.

She sat, listening to him while he told her about how he used to like cars a lot more…when he had a lot more time…she assumed that he didn't have much time now. Maybe he worked more than he used to…maybe he had other obligations. He hadn't explained why he continuously stated that he didn't have as much time as he once had…and she hadn't asked.

Because in the back of her mind all she could keep doing was worrying about if the date was going well…if she was being an acceptable date…if he would like her enough to ask her out again…if she wanted him to ask her out again…and when, exactly, she was supposed to tell him about Sophia.

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By the time that the date drew to a close, Daryl wasn't sure what he felt about the situation.

Carol seemed like a really nice girl…woman…person.

She really did.

And she was pretty and she was funny and she hadn't made him feel one bit uncomfortable the whole night. Even when he'd started to feel uncomfortable…even when the voices in his head reminded him that he was awkward and dates were awkward and blind dates were especially awkward…even when all that had started to spin around in his mind and started to choke out the conversation, she hadn't made him feel uncomfortable at all.

In fact, she was almost comforting…just the way she looked at him made him feel oddly interesting and oddly confident.

But it hadn't made him feel confident enough to admit that the reason he kept randomly checking his phone to make sure it was on was because there was a certain four year old that he was concerned about…because he couldn't remember if he'd put Smuckers in his overnight bag, and even though Merle and Andrea had a key to his house and wouldn't hesitate to go in a pajama clad run for the bear if Anandrea wouldn't suffice for the night…Daryl still found himself worrying stupidly over the fate of Russ's dreams if he'd been careless enough to forget something so important.

And by the time that they were walking out to the cars after dinner, both of them carrying to go boxes of food, Daryl was wondering how it was supposed to go.

If he said he had a good time…if he asked her on another date…if he went that far, was it really fair to her to say yes and still not know about Russ?

Would that be a deal breaker for her? Because it had certainly been a deal breaker for Russ's mother.

And Daryl still hadn't decided what he wanted to do…or really what he should do…when they'd reached the car that she identified as her own. She stopped, instead of guiding him all the way to the door of the car, at the hood of it and leaned against it like she intended to go no farther in the darkened parking lot…and Daryl was glad that his vehicle wasn't anywhere around because if she'd taken a moment to look into it, whether or not he wanted to mention Russ wouldn't have mattered at all. It had been a long time since his vehicle had looked, on the inside, like anything besides the kid-mobile.

"Thank you…for a good time," Carol offered from where she was leaning against the hood of her car.

Daryl nodded his head.

"Thank you," he responded.

And he felt his pulse pick up a notch because if he was going to ask her on another date, this would be the point where he might try to kiss her. This would be the point that he was supposed to make his intentions clear. And if he weren't going to ask her out, this would be the point where he'd simply bow out gracefully and wish her goodnight that ultimately translated into "have a good life."

Daryl swallowed and hoped he was doing the right thing. He moved, nervously toward her, realizing how long it had been since he kissed a woman…hoping that she didn't move or, worse, push him away.

But she did neither of those things. She stood up from where she was leaning, straightening herself and meeting him part way in a soft and relatively chaste kiss.

Daryl, intoxicated by the moment, let his hand rest on her waist and then slid it up, realizing he'd gone a little lower in his estimation of her height.

And she broke the chaste kiss with a soft laugh.

"Goodnight?" She said, the word coming out somewhere between a statement and a question.

Daryl smiled and nodded his head.

"Night," he said.

They stood there a moment longer, and Daryl watched her as she dug in her purse, coming out with her keys.

Then she looked at him with something like expectation that he would move on along and he realized he couldn't very well stand in the parking lot all night…and she was making no move to get in her car while he was there.

"Maybe I'll call ya?" He asked.

Carol smiled.

"Maybe I'd like that," she said.

Daryl smiled and nodded again at her. He waited another second, assured himself that she was waiting on him to leave so that she could leave, and he stepped off from her and went in the direction of his truck, lighting a cigarette as he walked and hoping that he hadn't done the wrong thing by simply failing to admit, on the very first…blind…date, that he was the proud father of a four year old.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Here we go, another chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl didn't bother to knock when he got to Merle's house. The sun was only barely beginning to come up, and it was probably too early to call on most people, but Merle was his brother…and therefore…not most people.

Besides…the warm glow of light coming through the windows told him that somebody, at least, was up in the house and he didn't doubt it since Russ was well known for being an early riser most of the time.

Daryl tried the knob and, finding the door unlocked, pushed it open and let himself inside the house.

Merle was in the kitchen in a bathrobe…something Daryl always teased that he loved seeing first damn thing in the morning.

"Russ up?" Daryl asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Nah…Andrea neither…" Merle said. "Get'cha damn cup a' coffee…we'll go sit down…I ain't wantin' ta wake her up 'fore she wakes her damn self up."

Daryl nodded his head and went to work fixing himself a cup of coffee. Merle stood, leaning against his counter, and tested his own coffee before grunting and nodding at it…obviously satisfied with it…and then he went into the living room to sit down and Daryl followed him.

Daryl had barely slept any the night before. Between his nerves being shot about the date…and about what he should do as far as a second date…and Russ not being home, his brain had decided that he didn't need to sleep at all. His time was much better spent thinking up all the worst case scenarios that the world had to offer.

"So how the hell'd ya lil' date go?" Merle asked.

Daryl chuckled to himself. Merle…straight to the point.

"Good damn mornin' to ya too," Daryl said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Merle chuckled.

"Good damn mornin'," Merle said. He paused a moment. "So how the hell'd ya date go?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Mmm…went good, I reckon," he said. "She's hot…damn hot…pretty face…"

"Bad personality?" Merle asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Nah…good damn personality…funny…nice laugh…" Daryl said.

"Then why the hell ya sound like ya recitin' a damn eulogy?" Merle asked.

Daryl chuckled and rubbed his face.

"'Cause she's ever' damn thing that would keep a woman from wantin' a taste a' my life," Daryl said. He shook his head. "Couldn't never figure out how ta tell her ass 'bout Russ, ya know? How ta tell her…hey ya start fuckin' with me…oughta know I spend a lotta damn nights with cold ass lil' feet pushed all up against me…an' I ain't seen shit on television ain't had some damn kinda singin' fuckin' animal in more damn time'n I care ta say."

Merle chuckled.

"Damn boy!" He declared. "How ya know she ain't like kids? Might be tickled damn pink ya got one already…hell…Russ's a good damn kid…"

Daryl took that as his out from talking about the date he was still stewing over and not really ready to fully comment on at the moment.

"How was he last night? Weren't too damn bad?" Daryl asked.

Merle shook his head.

"Russ's a damn good kid," Merle said. "He ain't done nothin'…hell…played an' shit…hung his ass all over Andrea…she went ta bed early…he went ta bed early…she tossed an' turned an' he stuck ta her ass like she was a fuckin' kangaroo…I got up slept half the damn night on the couch."

Daryl chuckled.

"Did I pack the damn bear or d'ja have ta go an' get it?" Daryl asked.

Merle shook his head.

"Nah…ya packed it…don't know why, though. He ain't needed it…who the fuck needs a bear when they stuck ta Andrea?" Merle said.

Their conversation got interrupted when the bedroom door creaked open and Andrea came shuffling down the hall, Russ behind her, pulling at her pajama pants, obviously still not fully awake.

"Ya better come here an' give me some lovin'," Daryl declared to the boy who noticed him around Andrea's legs.

Russ looked at Andrea…obviously decided she had no visible escape route…and bolted toward Daryl, giving him just enough time to put his coffee cup down before Russ slammed into him.

Daryl pulled the boy up into his lap and hugged him as Russ wrapped his arms around him and leaned into him, his sleepy head attitude all the more obvious at the moment.

"Ya sleep OK?" Daryl asked.

Russ nodded his head, his finger sneaking into his nose, and Daryl pulled the finger out.

"I sleeped with Anandrea…" Russ said, his voice still heavy with sleep. "We sleeped real good…"

Daryl heard Andrea chuckle from the kitchen.

"This decaf, Merle?" Andrea croaked, her voice still hoarse.

"Ya know it," Merle responded.

A few moments later, Andrea shuffled into the room and took her own seat with a coffee cup, scrubbing at her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"Don't you just look pretty as a picture first damn thing in the mornin'?" Daryl teased.

Andrea rolled her eyes at him.

"That's alright," she said. "Russ thinks I'm pretty…I woke up this morning and he was leaning over me…blowing his breath in my face…just staring."

Daryl chuckled and squeezed the boy who laughed at it.

"Did you do that?" He asked.

"We was still sleeping…" Russ declared.

"Well?" Andrea asked. "Date? Yes or no?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Boy ya asses is caught up on this shit," he declared. "Was a good date, OK? I reckon…far as dates go…"

"So you're going to call her again?" Andrea asked.

Daryl sucked his teeth. He'd realized that he thought he had the woman's phone number…but he didn't…and he'd started convincing himself that maybe that was a sign.

"Don't got her number," he muttered.

"I do…I can give it to you before you go…got it from Alice," Andrea said. "Next reason why you're going to try to tell me you're not calling?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Hell…ain't fair, ya know? Tell some damn young woman…I got obligations…shit I got in my life..." Daryl responded, going back over all the things that his mind had played up for him all night long…things that he'd turned over and over as the things that would send the woman screaming…or maybe even have her laugh in his face.

He nodded his head toward Russ who was starting to wiggle to get down and he moved to let the boy down, watching him as he went straight toward the kitchen…the sound of crinkling happening as he gained access to "Russ's cabinet" which had food he was allowed to have.

Russ came back through a moment later with one of the breakfast bars he liked to eat in his hand and Daryl reached out to open it, but Russ dodged him like he was playing football and took it straight to Andrea.

"Shit tastes better when ya open it, I reckon," Daryl teased.

"My hands secrete something addictive," Andrea responded, unwrapping the bar and handing it back to Russ. "How do you think I got Merle to marry me?"

Merle snorted and Daryl laughed.

"Seriously, though, is it fair to dismiss this woman without even talking to her about…your obligations?" Andrea asked. "I can't say that it would have changed my mind with Merle if he'd had a kid…"

"But'cha don't know…'cause Merle didn't have no kid…" Daryl said. "An' she…"

Andrea cut him off.

"It's not fair, Daryl…to assume that every woman is like Heather. Whether she's OK with it or not…you at least owe her the chance to make that call," Andrea said. "Call her…ask her out…tell her about your life. Let her make the call…but you don't call her and you're telling her that you had a bad time…you're telling her that it's her that makes you not want to go out with her again."

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"See…this is why the hell I ain't likin' this datin' shit…ain't got shit ta do with her," Daryl said.

"But it does," Andrea said quickly. "And you can bet she's going to think it does…don't be an asshole…give her a chance to make up her mind. Then…deal with it from there…but just not calling? That's an asshole thing to do."

Daryl sighed and glanced at Russ who was sitting on the floor…having drug some of the toys out of his toy box…playing with them and chewing on his breakfast bar.

And he wondered…if he took the chance to call her again…how the woman might react to the little man that had somehow become the most important thing in Daryl's life…because a woman Daryl knew he could do without…but anything less than complete acceptance of Russ was an instant and total dealbreaker.

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Carol had found that Sophia wasn't in her bed when she got home. She had figured, then, that the little girl was sleeping with Alice and hadn't disturbed either of them. When she'd woken up, though, she'd slipped into Alice's room and found them both in the bed, and both lost to the world.

Carol slid under the cover and worked her way up against Alice's body, sharing the pillow that Alice's head was barely occupying.

She hadn't meant to wake her, but Alice stirred, and she brought a hand around, scratching Carol's head.

"Morning sexy," Alice said, her voice low and gravelly…it was much more gravelly from sleep.

Carol smiled to herself and moved her own hand, running her fingertips through Alice's hair. Alice leaned into her hand like a cat.

"Morning, beautiful," Carol said.

Sophia's head popped up and Carol smiled as the little girl looked around, her eyes squinty. Sophia had a way of waking up without really waking up in the morning and it was adorable.

After a second, though, her eyes adjusted and she smiled sleepily at Carol whom she had just spotted.

"You're not asleep, silly!" Carol cooed at her. "You're just faking!"

Sophia smiled and dropped back down, scrubbing against the bed a little and Alice leaned up on her elbow, looking at both Carol and Sophia.

"It's not every morning I can say I have two beautiful redheads in my bed," Alice teased.

She dropped back against the pillow again and Carol took to her elbow, hovering over her friend and watching as Sophia obviously tried to work through the last bit of sleep that was making her reluctant to commit to the morning.

"How was your night?" Carol asked Alice. "Was she good?"

Alice looked at the little girl and trailed a hand over, scratching gently at Sophia's back as she wallowed about.

"We watched the movie…had an extra-long bath time…and then we came to bed and snuggled," Alice said.

"She fussed about going down?" Carol asked.

"Mmm mmm…no," Alice said, shaking her head. "No…I wanted her to sleep with me…I never asked her about going to her bed."

Carol nodded her head. It was fine with her if Alice wanted Sophia to sleep with her…she didn't mind it at all. She knew that there were lots of mothers…and she felt like she'd met all of them…that didn't agree with letting your child sleep with you or anyone else…but Carol had always savored it when she could and she didn't think it did Sophia any harm either.

"How was your date?" Alice asked.

Carol smiled softly.

She'd been thinking about it. The date had gone well…she thought. She thought he was handsome…he was charming…she'd like him, really. It was about the best date that she could remember, not that she could really say she had a whole lot to compare it to.

"I don't know why he needs blind dates," Carol admitted. "I'm worried he has…people in his freezer or something…"

Alice chuckled.

"Did you tell him about the pudgywudget?" Alice asked.

Carol chewed her lip. She'd really meant to tell the man about Sophia…she'd meant to tell him at least by the end of the date so he wouldn't make the mistake of calling her again and getting even semi invested in something that he was going to be running from…but it just hadn't come out.

"It didn't quite come up," Carol said. "I meant to…but I…guess I chickened out…"

Alice sat up a little, running her own hand through her hair now.

"Well…is he going to call?" Alice asked.

Carol shrugged.

"I don't know…he might," she said.

"You'd have known if he was trying to get the hell out of there," Alice said. "And that would be the only way he isn't calling…he'd be stupid not to call you."

Carol chuckled.

"Not everyone loves me quite as much as you do, you know?" Carol teased.

"That's because they don't know you," Alice challenged. "And when you tell him about Soph? He's going to love you even more…because toddlers are sexy as fuck…"

Carol laughed. She wasn't sure she believed Alice at all…and in fact she was leaning more toward the fact that she didn't…but it was still flattering.

Sophia, then, committing to getting up, made her way over and crawled over Alice's stomach, making the woman groan, to get to Carol.

Carol sat up enough to lift her over Alice, pulling her into her lap, and considered the conversation about a man null and void for the time being.

He might call or he might not…and she'd deal with that when she had the time…but right now she was Mama and Sophia liked breakfast almost immediately after she decided she was ready for her day to start.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here we go, another chapter.**

**The next one coming up is going to be another date chapter. ;-)**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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_So Hansel see…he was on his way…followin' the path they told him ta follow 'cause he was gonna find the good witch in her great big ole castle an' she was gonna help him 'cause he couldn't find where he was goin'…_

"_Witches are bad…" Russ broke in, looking at Daryl with some concern._

_Bad witches is bad…but good witches…they ain't bad. That's why they called good witches. So Hansel he was gonna go an' find the good witch in her big castle on the other side a' the forest that he was walkin' through._

"_What's the good witch look like?" Russ broke in again._

_Good witches…they pretty. They look good…like pretty an' happy an' they wanna help people…like Hansel…so Hansel he come up an' he saw the good witch's castle…_

"_Pretty like Anandrea?" Russ asked._

_Hell…yeah…good witch looks just like Aunt Andrea…just the hell like her. They near twins…so when Hansel sees the castle he knows he done found the place 'cause it's the only castle he's seen so far an' he goes right on up ta the big wood doors and he knocks at one of 'em…waitin' on somebody ta open it…see…'cause good witches ain't gonna open they own doors._

"_Anandrea's not a witch…witches are bad…and scary…" Russ said. "I don't like the witch…"_

_Fine…she ain't a witch. I was wrong…heard them trees wrong…she's a…uh…she was a good an' happy an' magical queen? That better? The good queen? Fine…she was a good queen that looks like Aunt Andrea an' Hansel had found her castle an' was waitin' on the somebody ta open the door…_

"_Is Hansel gonna spend the night? 'Cause he should spend the night…" Russ interjected._

_Lay down…get'cha finger outta ya nose…am I tellin' this story or is you?_

"_Sorry…" Russ said, settling down again. _

_Close ya eyes…better if ya do that. Ya can see the big ole castle an' the good wi—queen better that way. So this lil' short dude…butler or somethin'…he opens up the door an' he takes Hansel inta the castle an' he comes ta the big ole throne where the good queen's sittin'…_

"_Can it be blue?" Russ asked._

_Throne's blue…castles blue…good witch looks like ya Aunt Andrea. Close ya damn eyes, Russ…I ain't tellin' ya again…you wanna hear what's gonna happen or don't'cha? _

_So Hansel he tells the good queen, he says he can't find his way…says he's been lookin' for it but he keeps comin' up on all these strange people…an' all these strange places…an' he keeps on goin' an' he keeps on goin' but he's gettin' so tired…'cause ya can't keep goin' forever an' not find what'cha lookin' for…an' not get tired. An' the good queen, she smiles at Hansel, an' she tells him…she says Hansel what'cha need ta do is ya need ta go on down the path a lil' ways longer…through the dark forest…an' while ya there ya gonna find the hunter…an' the hunter…he's gonna take ya through the dark forest so ya don't got no trouble…_

"_Are there talking trees in the dark forest?" Russ asked, his voice heavier than before._

_Ain't no talkin' trees in the dark forest. They was livin' in the forest a' the talkin' trees…keep up…they's a hunter in the dark forest…so the queen she says Hansel, 'cause ya so tired an' ya come so far…ya gonna stay here with me for the night…an' we gonna have a feast a' all the stuff ya wanna eat an' ya gonna sleep real good while ya here…an' tomorrow, when ya ready, I'ma see ya off…all the way ta the edge a' the dark forest…an' from there ya gonna go lookin' out for the hunter an' he's gonna see ya through the forest…_

Daryl could tell before he'd even quite reached the end of his little tale that Russ, who had finally decided to calm down and close his eyes for sleep, was almost gone. And he was glad of that.

Daryl eased out of the bed, not waking the boy entirely, and slipped the bear under the arm that Russ had draped across him while he'd told the tale. He tucked the blankets in around him and leaned down, kissing his forehead gently.

"Night buddy, love ya," Daryl whispered to the boy, not surprised when there was no response other than the evening out breathing of the small child who was, more than likely, dreaming about a good queen, a reformed witch no doubt, living in a blue castle along the path of make believe.

Daryl slipped out of the room and cracked the door behind him. He went to the refrigerator, got himself a beer, and cracked it open before he checked the time on the microwave and hoped it wasn't too late to make phone calls. He was out of practice with this sort of thing and didn't know what was too late for people who didn't have to wait until bedtime to have time to themselves.

So that he wouldn't disturb the boy at all as his voice echoed around inside the house, Daryl opened the front door and slipped out, leaving the door ajar so that he could hear Russ if he was needed, and sat down on the porch swing with the phone.

He almost felt strange being as nervous as he was. He was simply dialing a telephone number…simply planning on trying to have something of a conversation that didn't circle around what dinosaur poop smelled like or whether or not macaroni was a vegetable…but it made his heart pound around mercilessly in his chest.

"Hello?" Carol's voice said on the other side of the line and Daryl's heart thudded a little harder than before.

Instantly he got the feeling like he should abort his mission. If he wasn't sure she'd probably just call him right back…and therefore eventually find out it was him who had called…he might have just hung up the phone in that moment.

Her voice was somewhat muffled though, low…and Daryl worried about what that might mean.

"Too late?" He asked…they were the only words he could get out.

"What? Who is this?" Carol responded, sounding confused.

"Uh…Daryl…from the other night? Was askin' if it's too late ta call ya…" Daryl got out, feeling a little more driven to speak by her confusion and need for clarification.

"Hi Daryl…hold on…" Carol said.

Daryl held on…he nursed his beer and rocked the swing with his toe…and he listened to the sounds of her moving about or something…and he held on.

"OK…I'm sorry…I'm back…" Carol's voice came a few moments later. It was a little bit louder than it had been before, but still it sounded like she was avoiding being heard.

And Daryl felt his stomach turn. Maybe he had been right on the date…maybe she didn't really need blind dates and she didn't really need to be social…maybe she wasn't even alone.

"Am I interruptin' somethin'?" He asked, swallowing down some of his beer and wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

There was a little hesitation.

"No…nothing…it's just that my roommate…housemate…whatever you call her…she's sleeping because she's got to go in early for work…" Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head to himself. Honestly he shouldn't have asked for explanation in the first place. She really owed him absolutely nothing. They'd done nothing more than have dinner together, after all, and he hadn't even been man enough to tell her that right now he was hiding on his porch so that his voice didn't wake up his son and his son didn't decide to try to talk to whoever was on the phone.

"I was just callin' ta see if ya maybe wanted ta do somethin'…go out again?" Daryl said finally. "Ya know…like another…date?"

There was silence.

"If ya got other shit goin' on…I mean I was just askin'…" Daryl threw in quickly.

_Yeah…that was great. That was smooth, Daryl. You're awesome at looking like you're not desperate…you're a real fucking pro at making it seem like this woman isn't your absolutely only possibility ever…_

"You mean like right now?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"No…I meant like…I got Wednesday…I could do Thursday…an' I think Friday…but I'd have ta let'cha know for sure…'cause I gotta find out when…" Daryl stopped.

He'd almost slipped and said he had to find out when the hell Andrea might have off…when she might be able to watch Russ…or when Merle could watch Russ, though it was better to have Andrea if you were just going to have one of them. Russ would watch himself better…

But Carol still didn't know about Russ and Daryl rested his beer bottle between his thighs so he could chew at his cuticle. He had to figure out how he was going to handle this shit…but handling it on the phone might not be the best idea.

Or maybe it was just that he wanted to see her one more time...for whatever reason…just see her before he ran her out of his life completely.

"Um…" Carol hummed. "Sure…yeah…I have…some things…you know what? Just let me know when you can…and then I can let you know when I can? Alright? But sure…I'd love to do something…dinner or something…sure."

Daryl wondered what she had going on…she'd already said she didn't work yet…but that wasn't his business either.

He eased up off the swing and went to the door, peaking in, but luckily Russ was still asleep and not threatening to blow his cover like a freight train any time soon.

He could find out tomorrow when the hell he could commit to a date. Then, on the date, he could be real damn casual about it…ask her how she felt about kids…something like that…and then he could just somehow figure out how to gently and confidently segway into the fact that he had a top secret, super hidden four year old in his life.

Sure…that wouldn't go over like a ton of bricks.

He felt much better now that he'd thought about it…again.

"So I'll let'cha know tomorrow?" Daryl asked. "We could do whatever ya want…hell…ain't much ta do 'round here…but we could eat or somethin'…movie? I don't know…somethin'…"

"Hey…yeah! Eating is great!" Carol responded. She chuckled. "I'm really good at it, and if…there's time…or if we want to…we could watch a movie, but eating's always a winner."

Daryl chuckled to himself.

At least eating was the most important part to her of the whole proposed date, because he had a feeling that if he took the opportunity over dinner to spill the beans to her about Russ…dinner was going to be about all they got out of the evening before she was ready for him to take her the hell home and erase her number right out of his phone.

"Good then," he said. "Tomorrow…I'll call ya 'bout when's good an' we'll set it up…we'll…uh…" He broke off with a chuckle. "We'll eat…"

"Great," Carol responded. She paused a moment and Daryl didn't know what to fill the pause with, so he sat in silence and wished he was better at conversation than he was…he could offer her a lively story about good queens if she wanted it…but simple adult conversation sometimes seemed so complicated. "Well…goodnight, Daryl," Carol said after a moment.

Daryl nodded his head. He supposed it was time to get off the phone.

"Night…talk to ya tomorrow," he said.

When she'd passed something back to him in the way of a final goodbye, Daryl pulled the phone away from his ear and hit the end button. He sighed to himself and sucked down another swallow of beer, pushing the swing with his foot.

He wasn't going to have any kind of smooth way to tell this woman about Russ…he was simply going to just have to throw it out there.

What do you think about kids? The reason I ask is because I've got one…just me…solo…no mom in the picture…not since the kid was barely a couple of days old…

Daryl closed his eyes and rocked that way for some time, listening to the quiet around him and thinking about how things might have been different for him in a world where things turned out a little bit more like they were in the fairy tales…but that wasn't what life was really like to anyone much older than Russ.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Because you were so nice about asking for it…here's another little chapter. I don't know if it came out the way that I wanted it to, but I tried! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol thought they'd probably eaten the most uncomfortable meal ever…and she thought that she was mostly to blame for that. She sat across from Daryl at the restaurant, running over and over in her head the way to tell him about her life…the way to tell him about how she'd even ended up here…the way to tell him about Sophia…but none of it was coming out.

In fact, in between comments about the food, the only thing that she could do was focus on how her stomach was churning and offer him, every time she realized that her thoughts had swept her up for indeterminate amount of time, what she knew to be less than comforting smiles.

And it was obviously affecting him because he didn't look to be enjoying himself at all. She was making him uncomfortable and he was fidgeting with all the lack of control that Sophia showed when she'd been buckled into a seat for too long and was on the verge of having a fit if she didn't escape.

Daryl looked like he wanted to escape.

And that made her want to choke herself for making him so uncomfortable and it concreted what she already knew. She couldn't do this. She wasn't date material. She didn't even have the ability to have dinner with a human being without making them want to run for their life.

Daryl shifted around, putting his fork down noisily and then made a face like he was silent scolding the piece of metal for its unruly clatter against the side of his plate.

"Talkin' 'bout kids…" he said.

Carol swallowed and she tried not to look as surprised or as unnerved as she felt. They weren't talking about kids…she couldn't even remember the last thing they were actually talking about…

But she worried because Daryl, no matter how much she'd protested, had insisted on picking her up and she worried that he'd seen the car seat in the back of her car…he'd seen some proof of Sophia.

And maybe that was the real reason for his fidgeting.

It would be hard enough for a man to want to date a woman that was divorced, she thought…he'd probably wonder what she'd done. How was she so terrible that she'd driven Ed to being the man that he'd become? How was she so terrible that she'd failed at even keeping a marriage together?

But to date a divorced woman with a kid? A woman who was so terrible that her marriage had collapsed when so many people made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world to be married…a woman who was so terrible that she'd spawned a child with a man and he didn't even want the child because it was hers, or at least half hers, and he didn't even want to be around anything that reminded him of her?

That was date poison. That had failed relationship slathered all over it.

"We…we weren't talking about kids…were we?" Carol asked, trying to force a smile and some confusion to go with her sudden feeling of nausea and self-doubt.

Daryl chuckled nervously.

"Maybe we weren't…" he said. He shifted and sat up, putting his elbows on the table, then moving them…and then putting them right back. "Maybe we oughta…what'cha…what'cha think about 'em? Kids…?"

Carol felt like she was caught at the moment. She was caught more surely than she'd ever been caught by her mother as a kid. She frowned and shook her head.

"I'm sorry…I'm really sorry…I should have said something…" she offered. She took a deep breath and looked at Daryl who was now looking at her like he wasn't sure which kind of alien species she belonged to.

"So…ya don't like 'em?" Daryl asked.

Carol paused and stared at him…stared at the way his brow was furrowed in question…a question that she didn't understand. And he stared back at her with the question on his face like he didn't understand an answer that she hadn't given.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice coming out softer than before.

Daryl stared at her moment longer and then chuckled, the line between his eyebrows not entirely fading.

"What the hell are you talkin' 'bout?" He asked.

Carol sat back against the back of her booth and studied him. She didn't feel caught anymore, but she didn't feel like hiding anymore either. If he was going to run…then let him go…let him run.

She sighed.

"I should have said something…" Carol said. "And I don't know what you're talking about…or if you saw the car seat…or what you saw…but I should have said something. And I know…that it's a lot. You know? I know that it's too much…so I'm not going to be mad and I'm not going to think you're a horrible person…because it's too much to ask a lot of people to handle…and I don't know if I were you, if I would want to handle it. So I'm not going to blame you for however it is that you want to feel about it…"

The line between Daryl's eyebrows was getting deeper and the more that she babbled the deeper it got and the more he slowly began to lean his body closer, almost threatening to lie down on the table, right in the middle of his plate, as though getting closer to her was going to make the words that were coming out of her mouth less confusing or easier to swallow.

"Stop!" Daryl said suddenly.

And the sudden directness of the word made Carol jump, but it also served to stop the flow of words that she hadn't been able to stop before. She closed her mouth and stared at him.

He backed up and held his hands up at her.

"Real nice an' slow like," he cooed at her. "The fuck ya ass is talkin' 'bout?"

Carol stared at him a second longer, almost feeling like she wanted to laugh at the combination of his voice and his facial expression, though she no longer pretended to even have a clue what was happening.

"I have a daughter," she said.

Daryl stared at her…there was really no reaction from him, but he'd pretty much reached, already, the full depth of confusion possible for a human being, so she didn't know where he had to go from there.

"Sophia…she's two…and I'm getting divorced, but…my husband…my ex-husband…" Carol stopped and shrugged. The words that followed…no matter how much she hated Ed…still stung. "He doesn't want her…he doesn't want anything to do with her."

Carol swallowed and felt like she was bracing herself. She wasn't sure how he might react, but she expected something of anger. She expected some kind of show about how pissed off he was that she'd withheld that information on the first date. She expected some kind of disbelief that she might suggest she'd forgotten to tell him a piece of information that was so blatant and painfully obvious and important.

But he didn't react with anger at all. He paused a moment, still wearing confusion on his face and then he sat back hard, almost slamming into the booth behind him. And he laughed.

He laughed and Carol didn't know what to do.

"Fuck…" he spat through the laughter…and that only served to renew the laughter. "Fuck!" He spat again.

He leaned up after a second, gaining control of his laughter, and he leaned on the table, like he was going to say something almost secret to Carol, and she knew that her face probably looked like his had earlier because she was confused about what in the world might be so funny.

"You got a kid?" He asked.

She nodded her head.

"Two damn years old, huh?" Daryl asked.

Carol nodded.

"Potty trained yet?" He asked.

Carol wrinkled her brow.

"She's…trying…" Carol said. "She's not…she doesn't really like it…"

Daryl nodded his head.

"Try one a' them musical toilets…gives 'em a damn 'round of applause an' a damn happy lil' tune…big time celebration shit…" Daryl said.

Carol stared at him and felt like she'd just entered, entirely and completely, the twilight zone.

Daryl shook his head, his laughter renewing slightly. He pulled one of his hands across his face.

"I…uh…been sweatin' damn bullets all night," Daryl said. "'Cause I ain't knowed…ya know? I ain't knowed how the hell ta tell ya…or what'cha might do…but…hell…I got a damn kid…his name is Russ an' he's four years old an' he's spendin' the night with my brother an' his wife so I can go on a date with ya…'cause I don't get nights off."

Now Carol felt like she'd been hit with a ton of bricks.

Daryl had a child? The man in front of her…had a child? She'd been terrified to tell him about Sophia and all this time he'd been sitting on the little secret of a…four year old.

Carol only spoke a second later when she'd started to digest everything he'd offered in the hurried words.

"His mother?" She asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"He ain't got one…ain't never really had one," Daryl said.

Carol felt her stomach sink.

"She passed away?" Carol asked.

Daryl shook his head, but he chuckled lightly too.

"She's dead ta me…dead ta him…but I reckon she's still kickin' it some damn where…" Daryl said.

Then silence fell over them.

It was hard for Carol to know what to say. She wasn't mad…she didn't really know what she was…but she wasn't mad.

Maybe, if anything, she felt bad for him. He was a single father with a four year old son. He was the father of a four year old whose mother hadn't wanted him.

The thought alone made Carol's chest ache and she didn't even know the boy…she didn't even know Daryl that well.

And maybe he didn't know what to say either. What was there to say? She was living proof that she was a woman who was a failure at relationships and, if that weren't enough, she had a two year old daughter.

Daryl was the one who finally spoke, though.

"So…reckon that's it, huh?" Daryl asked.

Carol looked at him.

"That's it?" She asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"S'alright…Russ's too damn much for ya…an' that's OK. Hell…I weren't figurin'…not really…on anybody bein' too damn OK with it. It's a lot…kid's four years old," Daryl said.

Carol felt something pull in her chest and scratch at her throat just seeing the facial expression that crossed his face quickly, the one that he tried to cover with something of a smirk that she might have believed if she'd missed the flash of something else before.

She swallowed.

"You think that…I'm bothered by the fact that you have a child?" Carol asked.

"Ain't'cha?" Daryl asked.

Carol leaned up a little bit.

"Did…you miss the part where I said I had a two year old?" Carol asked. She laughed, ironically really, at her own question and Daryl mirrored the somewhat awkward laugh.

"Nah…ain't missed it at all…" he said.

And then they both stared at one another again.

Carol didn't know what to say. It was a lot of information…it was a lot to take in…and it was like, for some reason, she was seeing the man across the table from her in a totally different light than she'd seen him when he'd picked her up earlier.

But she couldn't say, exactly, that she didn't like what she saw.

"I don't mind…that you have a child," Carol said. "But I thought that you might…" She stopped and shrugged again, shaking her head. "I thought that, honestly, you were going to get up and run…maybe go to the bathroom and never come back…as soon as I told you about Sophia…"

Daryl chuckled.

"Guess we mighta misjudged each other a little…" Daryl said.

Carol nodded her head, still not sure what she was feeling or what was even happening.

"We might have…" she said. "So you're not going to bathroom?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Not right now," he said. "You gonna…throw somethin' at me? Run out the restaurant?"

Carol smiled and shook her head.

"I don't think so…" she said.

Daryl smiled and nodded his head, moving around. She watched him as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and sat there going through it.

"Well hell…" he muttered. "I know ya got a fuckin' picture or two…so let's see 'em…"

Carol laughed softly and reached for her purse, deciding that…for a second date…the night couldn't possibly get any more bizarre.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I wanted to say that, as a disclaimer, I'm more than aware of how small children talk, but I'm not going to be writing in too much of their pronunciation because, as we all know, most of the time it's one of those things that you most clearly understand it because you know the child…otherwise you're struggling to make it out sometimes. That being said, I'm just going to be writing a little more of their sentence structure, and not so much their pronunciation. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carol asked as she came up the porch steps and Daryl held the door open for her to pass inside with Sophia and the probably overpacked diaper bag that she had stuffed everything imaginable into.

"What could go wrong?" Daryl teased, following her inside. "Russ…son…clean up…or I'm turnin' the t.v. off," he said, noticing that the four year old, who was supposed to be carrying at least a fourth of the toys he'd brought into the living room back into his bedroom, had stopped once again to stand two feet from the television set and stare blankly at the dancing people in colorful costumes.

"Sophia loves this show!" Carol declared, dropping the bag.

Russ lost interest in a moment, obviously, in his television show…but he didn't redirect his attention toward cleaning. Now he was simply standing in the same position, mouth semi open as it had been while observing the ballet of the purple hippo and the blue octypus, and looked at Carol.

Carol bent down and rested Sophia's feet on the floor, releasing the girl who looked no less sure of her surrounding than Russ looked about the sudden invasion of his home by alien species.

"Uh…Sophia's pretty easy going," Carol offered. She just needs a few minutes to adjust.

Daryl nodded his head in the direction of Russ.

"He's uh…well…he takes a bit ta warm up…but once he's there, he's all the way in," Daryl chuckled. "Russ…this is Miss Carol. Can ya say hey?"

Russ's facial expression didn't change…nor did his stance. Apparently the answer was no…he could not say "hey"…he could not do anything but look at Carol with the semi open mouth of curiosity.

Carol moved to the couch and sat down, smiling and waving at Russ, but keeping her distance from him as though she were introducing herself to someone's pet. She wasn't invading his space…at least not his immediate space.

"Hi, Russ…what are you watching?" Carol asked.

But Russ didn't look like he wanted to respond at the moment. He furrowed his brows at her and brought one hand up toward his mouth.

"Aahhh," Daryl scolded. "Don't go no higher…don't'cha stick ya finger in ya nose…"

And Daryl, after a moment, moved to sit beside Carol and she giggled.

"Nose problems?" Carol asked.

"S'a pretty new thing," Daryl confessed. "But it's all the damn time…Russ…ya ain't gon' say nothin'?"

No…Russ wasn't going to say anything.

Sophia, having noticed toys in her environment, went directly to start looking through them. They weren't her toys…but that was obviously of little concern. They were there and they were unclaimed. In the land of all two year olds, that made them free game.

And Russ's attention then got drawn to the tiniest of the alien species that had invaded his living room.

"Got the damn feelin' this is either 'bout ta go really good…or really bad," Daryl whispered, leaning toward Carol enough to bump her shoulder.

Sophia wandered, not having the same sense of reservation as Russ, to the couch where she found, much to the horror of Russ as it registered on his face, that Smuckers had been left there and left unattended.

"Bear!" Sophia squealed, picking it up. She turned and grinned at Daryl and Carol both as though picking the stuffed animal up off the couch had been some kind of great accomplishment for her. "It's a bear!"

"That's mine…" Russ said, finally losing whatever glue it was that was holding his feet glued to the one spot on the floor that was his. "Uh…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…that's mine…give it here…that's mine…"

He came toward Sophia, but she employed the ultimate body block of the spinning two year old, not willing just yet to relinquish her prize and letting out a sharp howl at Russ when he reached for the bear, trying to gain access from one side or the other of her body depending on where she turned.

Daryl, sensing the trouble that might erupt at any moment, reached out and caught Russ by the back of the arm when Sophia steered him more in Daryl's direction, and he tugged him over in front of him, squaring him off so he was facing him.

"Just let her hold him…she ain't gon' hurt him one bit…" Daryl said. "She just wants ta nuss him…"

Russ stared at Daryl as hard as a four year old could muster up a stare, but almost as soon as he'd reached the peak of his hardness, he started down the slippery slope of heartbrokenness and into the abyss of full out betrayal, heartache, and disbelief at his father's cruelty. And he dissolved into dragon tears.

And not even Daryl could be entirely sure what line of reasoning he was following since his words were muffled by the suffering behind them. Among the collection of words and the story that went with the explanation, "she" and "Smuckers," or some variation of both words, were repeated a few times.

"Russ!" Daryl said. "What Miss Maggie an' Miss Jo say ta ya 'bout sharin'?"

Russ just shook his head at that…he apparently didn't want to walk down memory lane about sharing…not in the presence of the new people he had no interest in learning anything about at the moment.

And Daryl felt mortified…dig a hole through the floor, climb down in it, pull the hole in on top of him mortified…at the thought that Russ was going to behave like this. Missed nap or not, he'd banked on him being a perfect gentleman and here he was deciding to have a nervous breakdown because a ginger two year old was standing a few feet away from him, holding his bear, staring at him like he was the most bizarre creature she'd ever seen in her long and extensive life.

Russ looked to Carol for a moment, letting up slightly in his tears, but dissolved into them again when he realized that she was the one who had brought the would-be bearnapper into his midst.

"Russ! Wouldn't be no problem if you'da put him up when I told ya ta clean up!" Daryl said.

"We was sleepin'!" Russ choked out, glancing over at the bearnapping that was only halfheartedly taking place at this point given that Sophia was more amazed with Russ than she was with the bear that she was loosely holding.

"You weren't sleepin'…ya ain't even took a nap today…an' that's half a what's wrong with ya," Daryl said.

"Baby crying!" Sophia announced, pointing at Russ.

"Sophia…can you give Russ his bear?" Carol asked, slipping off the couch.

Sophia apparently took that as her signal, not to give Russ the bear, but to make a wide semi-circle around him to end up safely on the other side of him and crawl into the safety of Carol's arms…because something in this room was making one child lose his mind.

And Daryl suddenly regretted that he'd thought "come over late and let the kids play a bit before bed and then we can hang out" sounded like a great plan. It was, in practice, maybe the worst idea that he'd ever had…including the time he'd let Merle convince him to piss on an electric fence when he was seven.

"Sophia…can I see the bear? Please?" Carol asked.

Sophia, having no real and genuine interest in the bear, handed it over and Carol presented it to Russ who took it, immediately turning his back against her and Sophia both, should either of them decide that they had changed their mind in returning his fluffy friend to its rightful ownership.

"Russ…can ya tell Miss Carol thank you for givin' ya Smuckers back?" Daryl asked.

The thank you came…but it was stunted by hiccupping sobs.

"Take him to ya room an' ya stay in there until ya remember how ta act like you got some raisin'," Daryl said, pointing toward Russ's room.

Russ put up no protest at all. He went directly toward his room, pushing his door closed behind him when he entered and Daryl shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he offered Carol who had already crawled across the floor, accompanied by Sophia to point at something on the television that Sophia was imitating.

Carol sat back onto the floor and shook her head at Daryl before she tapped the screen.

"Look, Sophia! It's Lolly! Dance like Lolly!" Carol said.

Sophia danced, recited Lolly's name, and then "sang" the words to her song in a muffled voice that lacked any semblance of enunciation but carried the overall tune of what played on the television.

"Don't be sorry," Carol offered, looking back at Daryl. "We're strange and we're new…and this isn't our space…I'm sorry that she took his bear…"

"She ain't took it, though…weren't like she busted him in the nose," Daryl said. He sighed and lowered his voice. "He don't like change…none at all…kid cried for an hour after we told him my sister in law was pregnant 'cause he ain't liked the idea of babies bein' inside her stomach…figured they was gonna hurt her or somethin'…"

Carol tipped her head to the side and offered him something that related slightly to a smile.

"He's sweet," she said. "And sensitive…and change is hard for grown-ups too."

There came a knocking sound that grew in intensity slowly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Daddy! I'm sorry!" Russ called out.

And Daryl chuckled in spite of himself.

"He's done closed his door an' the knobs is tricky for him," Daryl said. "Reckon I gotta go rescue his ass…"

He got up and let the little boy out of his room, picking him up and verifying that he was ready, now, to act something like a human being.

"Can ya talk ta Miss Carol an' Sophia now?" Daryl asked, putting Russ down in the living room and sliding down to sit on the floor with his back against the couch.

"Russ…do you like Lolly too?" Carol asked, pointing to the television. "She's Sophia's favorite…"

Russ shook his head at Carol.

"No…umm…no…I just like Bruno," Russ said.

Carol chuckled.

"You just like Bruno?" Carol asked.

Russ nodded.

"Yeah…I don't like…" he stopped and looked at Daryl like he was asking permission to continue speaking, so Daryl nodded his head. It might not be fascinating conversation, but at least it didn't come with tears and snot. "Uhmm…I don't like Lolly…because…I just like Bruno because he's blue but Lolly's pink and I like blue…"

Carol smiled and nodded her head at him like she was genuinely interested in his reasonings behind why he liked one or the other of the dressed up people who were, theoretically, supposed to be various kinds of animals but really looked more like aliens to grown up eyes.

"What is Bruno?" Carol asked. "Lolly's a…"

Carol looked at Daryl and raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.

"Lolly's…I think she's a giraffe," Carol offered. "What is Bruno?"

Russ got closer to Carol…she liked his television show…she rescued his bear…even though she brought the questionable two year old that was doing her own rendition of the dance on the program, perhaps she was trustworthy enough to approach without fear of being eaten.

"Bruno, he's not a giraffe," Russ said, shaking his head emphatically with a concerned look on his face. "Lolly…she's not a giraffe…Lolly's a lizard…but Bruno's…he's blue and he's a hippo…but Lolly looks like a giraffe because she's tall and she's got a little head…but she's a lizard…but Bruno's a hippo and he's blue…that's why I like Bruno…"

"Oh! Lolly's a lizard?" Carol asked.

Russ nodded his head and walked over to the television…but Lolly's song had gone off so she was in the background of whatever creature was currently center stage. Still, Russ drug his finger across the screen, illustrating his lizard knowledge.

"See…she's got a little head…and that's her spots…they're purple but she's pink and she's a lizard," Russ said.

Sophia, apparently liking whatever creature was dancing for the moment, pushed at Russ with one hand.

"Move…move…pwease…" Sophia declared, growling out the last word so that it would be menacing enough to catch his attention.

"Sophia Lynn!" Carol snapped. "You ask nicely!"

Daryl chuckled and drug his hand over his face. This…this right here…had the makings of being the worst nightmare anyone could have. But he couldn't help but laugh at it.

"What's funny?" Carol asked.

And the way she cocked an eyebrow at him, almost in challenge with the four year old and the two year old nearing the possibility of a shoving match over singing people in ridiculous costumes, only fueled the humor.

"Hell…" Daryl spat when he could get the words out. "Reckon she asked nice enough…she said please…just so happens her teeth was clenched tight when she done it…"

A flash of the humor spread across Carol's face before she straightened it out and shook her head at him.

But during the time that the evening wore on…a little over an hour and a half to be exact because Daryl was keeping an eye on the clock to make sure that bedtime didn't get overlooked entirely…Sophia and Russ started to make a little peace with one another.

Because the next show that came on they both liked. And, as it turned out, they both liked the idea of the one cookie each and the milk that Daryl offered them, explaining to Russ that just because Sophia had a sippy cup didn't mean that he was getting his back…though he had expressed since its disappearance that he missed it…because it was gone to the Never Never Land for cups and couldn't return and big boys got to drink out of regular cups with lids and straws.

And not long before Daryl announced that Russ had to go to bed, Sophia had found Carol's arms…a place where Russ hadn't ventured yet but for all of his edging closer and closer to her Daryl thought it might not have taken him long if Sophia hadn't beat him to it…and she had started scrubbing at her eyes and wallowing her face in Carol's chest.

"I should take her home," Carol said. "Let her sleep…"

Daryl didn't want that to happen…he wanted that to happen less than Russ had wanted Sophia to take ownership of Smuckers…because even though she'd been there for probably two hours, he felt like he hadn't even had the opportunity to really speak to her.

"Don't go," he offered. "I'll get some blankets…we'll make her pallet…right here in the floor…"

Carol looked like she was going to argue with this idea, but Daryl cut her off before she could.

"Let her sleep just a lil' bit there…I'ma put Russ ta bed…an' we could…hell talk or somethin'…don't know…" Daryl said.

And he hoped he didn't sound like he was begging, even though he felt like he was begging a little.

Carol made a face, but she nodded finally and Daryl got up with Russ watching him, and brought a few blankets in, spreading them out so that they made a nice pallet on the floor.

"I'ma put him ta bed…" Daryl offered. "Ya need somethin'?"

"Can you drag her diaper bag over here?" Carol asked.

Daryl nodded and brought her the bag so she could get whatever it was she needed out of there.

"Russ…let's go…bed time," Daryl said.

Russ got up from his position without argument, and Daryl figured since his eyelids had already taken on the blue hue that they did when he was really tired, that the boy was more than ready for bed.

"Can ya tell Miss Carol night?" Daryl asked.

Russ turned and offered an almost whiny goodnight to Carol, like the chore was sadly taking away from his time in bed, and Carol smiled at him and told him to have a good night and that it was nice to meet him…and that she was sorry about his bear.

"Go potty an' get in bed," Daryl said, sending Russ down the hall with a push to his back. "I'm comin'…"

Russ bounded down the hall with the last of his remaining energy and into the bathroom and Daryl turned to Carol.

"I gotta tell him a story," Daryl said. "He don't sleep without a story…but then I'ma be back…"

Carol had moved the girl, who was half asleep, to the pallet and was changing her diaper.

"I'll wait," she said.

Daryl smiled at her and nodded in her direction before he started down the hall after Russ, hoping that once he was out they might get to at least have a little bit of a peaceful evening…and maybe she wouldn't hold it against him that Russ…when he really wanted to be…could be more than a handful.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter for you all! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Sophia didn't mind the pallet on the floor at all. Carol sat beside her, rubbing her back, even though the girl was already asleep, while she waited for Daryl, hearing his muffled voice coming from the room where he was putting his son to bed.

And she wondered, for a moment, what she was doing…what either of them were doing.

They were both single parents…both with small children…and that seemed overwhelming to wrap her mind around. She worried…because sometimes she felt like worrying about one thing or another was a full time job for her…that they might be making a big mistake by even trying to get the children to meet each other and by even trying to get them to maybe find something they liked about one another.

Because, then, if something happened between them…and it could very well easily happen given that they really didn't know each other at all…the children might end up hurt in all this.

Carol had almost worried herself into leaving entirely…into taking Sophia and declaring to Daryl that she really didn't think they were making good choices, that for as much as she thought she might like him…she wasn't ready for this. She was just stepping out from under Ed's thumb, and she hardly even knew who she was anymore when she wasn't Ed's wife…how could she say she was ready to get into a relationship with another man?

But her thought of flight was interrupted by the sound of Daryl's voice as he declared to the little boy in the bedroom that he loved him…declared that he should "sleep good."

And for whatever reason it did a little something to quell the worry some.

Daryl came into the living room, running his fingers through his hair and went directly through to the kitchen, opening up the refrigerator.

"She asleep?" He asked, keeping is voice low.

"Yeah," Carol responded. "She's a good sleeper…she can sleep through almost anything…"

And she didn't tell him that Sophia had never really had any other choice. It was like the little girl had known for a long time that she needed to sleep when she was put down to sleep…because crying at night caused even more noises in her house than normally took place since it irritated Ed to such a degree that he would often lash out at Carol when she would put herself between him and the baby.

So, instinctively perhaps, Sophia had learned faster than Carol thought most children did that going down for the night meant staying down…and sleeping through whatever war raged on around her.

"Russ…he ain't too bad," Daryl commented, cracking open a beer which he'd apparently obtained from the refrigerator. "Sometimes he has bad nights…but most the time he's down for the count when it's bedtime. You want somethin' ta drink?"

Carol looked at Daryl as she crawled to the couch and pulled herself up off the floor.

"I have to drive, remember?" She asked.

Daryl looked at the beer in his hand and chuckled.

"Hell…I got tea…water…some blue KoolAid…but I wouldn't drink it…shit's blue, but it don't taste like it oughta be blue an' it really fucks with ya head…" Daryl said.

Carol smiled and shook her head.

"I'm fine right now, thanks," she offered.

Daryl nodded his head and made his way toward her with a determination that almost had her wondering what he was going to do when he reached her…but he turned away before it happened and stepped out of the front door, holding it slightly propped open.

"Figured we could sit out on the porch," he said. "Nice night an' with the door open we can hear the kids if they need us…but we won't bug Sophia so damn much."

Carol wanted to tell him that Sophia wouldn't be bothered by simple conversation, not even if they were sitting on either side of her, but she didn't. It was a nice night, and she had nothing against the proposal to sit outside for a little while.

She followed Daryl out and he closed the screen door gently so that it didn't clap against the doorframe before he went to the swing and sat, gesturing that she should join him, which she did.

He rocked the swing with his foot, making them swing in an odd sort of swaying way, equally side to side as they were front to back, and they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Carol asked after a moment, deciding to give voice to some of the concerns that she was having.

Daryl didn't look at her, but he hummed in question, the tone of the humming coming out unmistakably as "what" in muffled form.

"Bringing the kids together," Carol went on, "me…you…what are we doing?"

Daryl chuckled.

"We sittin' on a porch swing," Daryl responded.

He looked at Carol then, his face only partially visible in the light that spilled through the screen door, but it was enough that she could see an ironic smile playing on his lips.

She frowned at him.

"That's not what I mean," Carol said.

Daryl chuckled and nodded his head.

"Figured not…" he said. "What do ya mean, then?"

"I mean…" Carol started. The truth was that she really didn't know what she meant, at least not entirely. The worry was there, and the concern, and all the worst case scenarios, but nothing was fully formed or easily explained. "We don't even know if…we don't know if there's anything that's going to be between us. I'm still married, technically. I'm not even divorced. I'm a single mother…"

Daryl chuckled again and tipped his beer back, drinking a short swallow out of it.

"An' I been single four damn years…got me a kid…they a point ta this or we just comparin' battin' records?" He responded.

"You're not being serious…" Carol said.

"Or you bein' too damn serious," Daryl countered.

Carol didn't know how to respond, so she fell silent, still chewing on the things that were of concern for her and wondering how, at this moment, they didn't seem to be of concern to Daryl. He turned his head, looking at her again, and then the smile dropped off his face as he took a breath.

"Look…I…don't know what'cha want me ta say," Daryl said. "I ain't no damn good at feelin's an' shit…ain't never been. Hell…I didn't even love Russ's ma an' that's the damn truth. But…"

He stopped talking and Carol tipped her head to the side.

"But what?" She asked, trying to urge him to keep going.

"But…I'm OK with this…whatever the fuck it is…an' I ain't been able ta say that shit before," Daryl said. "You the first damn woman I ever brought ta my house like this…"

Carol sucked in a breath and released it quickly.

"So…you're saying that we're…well…that we're at least…trying this…trying for something?" Carol asked.

Daryl looked at her, but he didn't respond verbally. She thought there was a slight nod to his head in the dim light, but she also wouldn't have doubted that it was nothing more than her eyes playing tricks on her.

"What if it ends up being a big mistake?" Carol asked.

Daryl looked away from her, took a swallow of his beer, and refreshed the rocking motion of the swing before he swung his head back in her direction and made a humming sound before actually committing to words.

"Gon' be the first damn one you ever made?" Daryl asked.

Carol sighed and shook her head.

"I guess not…" she said.

And even though the words probably shouldn't make her feel any calmer than she was…they did for some reason.

Because they were sincere…and there wasn't any kind of presentation being made to impress her. Daryl wasn't trying to declare his undying love for her, which at this point would be fake and nothing more than a ploy to get something from her, and he wasn't painting himself in strokes of perfection.

He was simply saying that there was a good chance that they were making a mistake, something she absolutely knew to be true, but that it was a mistake he was willing to make if that's what was called for.

And it shouldn't have brought her a positive feeling…but it did.

Carol took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, putting her worry out of her mind to focus on the fact that she was enjoying the feeling of the air around her…she was enjoying the gentle swaying of the porch swing…and she was enjoying, whether she wanted to admit it or not, the way that Daryl made her feel sitting next to her, focused on whatever it was that he was thinking.

When she felt him slip an arm around her shoulders and tug her gently so that she slipped closer to him, their bodies touching, she opened her eyes again and laughed quietly.

"Are you…trying to come onto me?" Carol asked.

Daryl laughed then, moving his arm from around her.

"Christ! Gimme a damn break, OK? I ain't done shit like this in a long damn time…it was the smoothest fuckin' move I had," Daryl said.

Carol laughed at his confession and he settled, farther from her now, sipping out of the beer that he was nursing.

"It was nice, you know…" Carol said. "I didn't mean that you had to move…"

Daryl looked at her again, gnawed for a second at his lip, and then moved his body back where it was before, slowly putting his arm back into place and pulling her against him again so that she felt the warmth of his body pressed next to hers.

She tried to will herself to relax into the position, her muscles naturally seeming to want to run…to escape with their uncertainty.

But after a moment of nothing changing between them except the distance, Carol did start to relax into the position, and she started to enjoy the feel of his body warming the side of hers and the smell of his cologne drifting in the breeze around them.

She gave in and rested her head against him.

"If I was ta try ta kiss ya…" Daryl said, not moving at all. "Would ya want me ta do it?"

Carol smiled and her chest shook a little with the humor of the statement.

"I might want it…I might not stop you," she said. "If you were to try it…"

Daryl hummed.

But when he moved his body, she sat up enough, already knowing that his "maybe" had turned into a yes…and it was something she was going to accept.

When he did kiss her, slowly and softly at first, she accepted it and returned it for him, both of them shifting their bodies a little so that the position they were in was more comfortable given their location in the swing.

And she allowed him to deepen the kiss when he requested it with is tongue.

She was almost ashamed of herself, as they kissed lazily, both exploring each other and exploring their limits, that she was questioning exactly what her limit was…when she knew that her limit shouldn't have even included a kiss that was becoming such an epic battle of tongues and turf.

Carol couldn't remember the last time she'd been kissed like that. It had been so long that Ed even seemed fond of her that they'd quit kissing quite some time ago…they'd cut off anything that even resembled mutually enjoyed physical connection long before she'd even left. And she wasn't sure that they'd even kissed in quite the same unhurried manner before that.

Daryl was the first to break the kiss, but Carol realized that she needed the break as much as he did to get the air that she seemed to be lacking.

He backed away from her a little bit, but he kept his eyes trained on her and she watched him as he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing…and she watched his lips as drew the bottom one quickly into his mouth and released it.

"You could stay the night…" he said, his voice deeper than before. "If ya wanted…"

Carol fought with herself for a moment.

Normally she would never even entertain such an idea. She would have scoffed that a man would think that after two dinners and an awkward child filled night she might stay the night with him…but for some reason she didn't find it as horrifying as she might imagine.

And if it hadn't been for scraping together all the willpower she could find, she might have said yes.

She shook her head, though.

"No…" she said.

Daryl nodded his head slightly and looked a little bothered. He turned from her and drank more of the beer that she'd tasted in his mouth. Without looking at her he spoke again.

"If ya don't wanna stay…'cause a' me…that's just fine," Daryl said. "Don't want'cha doin' nothin' that'cha don't wanna do…"

He broke off, though the tone of his voice let it be known that he wasn't finished speaking. He turned toward her then.

"But…at least tell me…" He stopped and chewed at his lip. "Is it 'cause ya holdin' Russ against me?"

Carol was a little taken aback by the question. She shook her head.

"No…Daryl, not at all," Carol said.

He nodded his head, but his expression didn't say that he believed her entirely.

"In fact…I think…maybe Russ is the reason that I would even consider staying…" Carol said.

Daryl looked confused and Carol shrugged.

"At least I know you wouldn't treat my daughter badly," Carol said. "Because she's just a baby…"

Daryl shook his head.

"No…I wouldn't…" he said.

Carol nodded her head.

"I know…but I'm not staying…" Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head.

"Fine…" he responded.

"At least…not tonight," Carol said.

Something of a smile flashed across Daryl's lips and he made it disappear almost as quickly as it had come. He cleared his throat and very clearly finished off the beer in his hand, tipping his head dramatically back to drain it.

"It's late," he said. He got up from the swing. "You get'cha bag…I'll carry Sophia out ta the car for ya…"

Carol watched him go inside and she heard the sound of a kitchen cabinet opening and closing, one that she knew held the trash can from where she'd found it earlier to get rid of a diaper, before she got up from the swing and followed him in the door.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Don't sound too damn good though," Merle commented. "You ain't thought'cha might find out why exactly she's divorcin' her husband 'fore ya gone an' got damn near glassy eyed?"

Daryl frowned.

"Don't matter, do it? You been on my ass for so damn long I don't remember ta find somebody I like an' I'm tellin' ya ass I like her an' now ya sayin' I ain't been picky enough?" He responded.

Andrea got up from where she was sitting with Russ, drawing both their attention.

"Russ, wanna watch tv in my bed?" She asked quickly.

And if course he did.

Daryl watched as Andrea took the boy, got him a snack, and led him to her room to switch on the television in there for him.

Russ always just thought it was a treat, but by now Daryl and Merle knew it to be Andrea's way of saying that whatever conversation they were about to have was not Russ appropriate in any way.

She returned as quickly as she'd left but didn't take her seat immediately.

"Why would it be important for Daryl to find out why she left her husband?" Andrea asked. "Is she questioning you about Heather?" Andrea directed her last question at Daryl and he shook his head.

"Nah," he responded. "Ain't said nothin' 'bout her."

"We know what the hell was wrong with Heather," Merle said quickly. "But how you know 'bout her? What if she ain't leave him? What if he left her because she's some kinda nut job?"

"She doesn't know that Heather didn't leave because Daryl's some kind of nut job," Andrea responded.

Daryl sat back against the back of the chair, recognizing well by the tone if voice that even though this discussion was technically about him, he wasn't being invited at the moment to join in.

"Was Heather had the problem there...I'm just sayin' ain't no normal thing some woman with a lil' kid up an' decide ta shake off her husband...worth checkin' into make sure she don't turn out ta be some kinda crazy," Merle responded.

"Maybe she had a dick for a husband that would say shit like that and she didn't want her kids to be around it, Merle," Andrea said, staying in the position she was in rather than sitting back down. "No man would need to worry about me if I unloaded you and took these kids with me because I didn't want you raising them up to spew such ignorant bullshit!"

Merle looked like he was about to protest further, but Daryl jumped in, feeling for his brother.

He wasn't so sure that Merle didn't mean well, but sometimes his words got away from him and Andrea and Merle both had tempers that sometimes ran away.

"Sit down, Andrea," Daryl said.

Andrea looked at him like she was surprised, but she did go back to her seat and sit.

"I ain't asked her 'bout her divorce yet but it don't matter that damn much to me," Daryl said.

He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he just felt like there was something about Carol that was different, there was something about her that he couldn't help but like.

And maybe part of it was that she reminded him absolutely none at all of Heather or of any other woman that he had ever dated, as a matter of fact.

There was something easy about Carol. There was something about her that made her easy to be around...easy to talk to.

Daryl didn't consider himself a very social person and, at times, he had simply felt that people made him uncomfortable unless he'd eased into knowing them over a long period of time. But Carol was different because, almost immediately, he'd felt at ease with her.

In fact, his biggest concern around her at the moment was fucking up…and it was mostly because he didn't want to do anything to fuck up and run her off.

"You best be careful she ain't doin' some kinda rebound shit…done got rid a' one husband lookin' for another…take everythin' ya got," Merle declared.

"Says king Merle…the all-knowing of marriage," Andrea muttered.

Daryl chuckled and shook his head.

Apparently Andrea had failed to tell Merle that Carol was going through a divorce. And that little fact, though it didn't really seem to bother anyone else, had Merle dipping into one too many of his little conspiracy theories that he kept in his back pocket for anyone he didn't know well.

"What the hell she after, Merle?" Daryl asked. "She took me for everything I own she still ain't got shit…half a' what I got don't even belong ta me…belongs ta the bank…she ain't that type no way."

No…Daryl didn't think she was that type at all. In fact, he couldn't really imagine what in the world would make someone divorce her in the first place.

Which led him to think that either Merle was right, and somewhere deep down she harbored some kind of amazingly hid secret identity that would make her damn near a black widow in disguise, or, and what Daryl figured to be more than likely, she'd just up and married a deadbeat asshole…the kind that didn't want his damn kid…and she'd gotten the hell out of there with her dignity.

Daryl figured, if she was the type that was after getting some man on the hook just as fast as she could, she wouldn't have turned him down the night she'd come to his house…she'd have taken that as her in to get her foot in the door and start putting this master plan into play.

"She's not that type," Andrea echoed. "Besides…Merle…it's not our place to judge this woman. We don't even know much about her…we don't even know what she looks like exactly…what I do want to know, though, is how is she with Russ?"

Daryl nodded his head at Andrea.

Those were concerns that he fully understood. And Daryl knew that Andrea knew that he wouldn't do anything or bring anyone into Russ's life if he thought they were better left out of it.

"She's only met him the one time," Daryl said. "But she was good with him…ya know Russ…takes a lil' time ta warm up. If it hadn't been his bedtime, though…reckon he mighta ended up in her lap 'fore too long…an' I reckon she'da let him on in there if he wanted it."

Andrea smiled softly and nodded her head.

"What do you think of her little girl?" Andrea asked. "Because that's important too…"

Daryl nodded his head again slightly.

"Don't know much about her…she's just a lil' thing…cute…seems real sweet," Daryl said. "More laid back than Russ was. Let me hold her one time a lil' bit."

Andrea nodded her head at him again and rolled her eyes toward Merle in something of a warning glance before she returned them to Daryl.

"And what do you think of her?" Andrea asked.

"I like her," Daryl admitted. "Simple as that…she ain't like none a' the women I ever dated before…she sure ain't like Heather…"

"Then if you like her," Andrea said, "and she's good to Russ…then the rest doesn't matter…you do what you want to do. Keep seeing her. Isn't that right, Merle?"

Merle sat up in his chair, somewhat indignant.

"I ain't said stop seein' her ass!" He protested. "I just said it don't make no damn sense not ta find out why the hell she's got a small damn kid an' choosin' ta get divorced."

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"OK…are you going to help me with this?" Alice asked Carol.

Alice was in the middle of the floor attempting to put together a small tent that she'd gotten for Sophia. It was just a little tent to play with...complete with some cartoon character on it that Carol didn't even know…but Sophia had liked some episode of something about camping and Alice had decided that they should, eventually, take her camping, but that the tent would give her something to entertain her.

"You're supposed to be good at this sort of thing…" Carol said with a smile from the couch.

"Oh…a lesbian joke…original," Alice declared, trying to fit the plastic pieces of the frame together while Sophia, excited about the prospect of the tent…and almost as excited by it as she was by the box the thing had come in…was trying to force her to take all the pieces that she didn't need yet and that were scattered all over the floor. "This is bullshit," Alice declared. "Easy assembly my ass…look at the happy little kid on the box…meanwhile in the background there should be the bodies of the people who died putting this stupid tent together…"

Carol got up from the couch and went over, sitting on the floor near Alice and tugging the instructions free from Sophia's grasp. It wouldn't be that complicated, she was sure, if Alice would use the instructions…but she'd always been one to jump into things first and then find out the details later.

"Put that part flat…" Carol said. "Flat…flat…on the floor…Alice…"

Alice finally figured out what Carol was getting at and then she made a face at her.

"I'm not two," Alice declared.

Carol chuckled.

"The jury's still out," Carol responded. "Now…these…Sophia, sweetheart…can you find Mommy another one of these? Just like this?"

Carol showed Sophia the long piece that she needed and Sophia found one of them in the time it took Alice to find the other two. The difference being that Sophia got a round of applause for finding the one that she'd taken across the room.

"So…but…you like him or you really like him?" Alice asked, picking up the thread of their earlier conversation that had dropped off just as she realized that a plastic and cloth tent was more than her medical degree could handle.

Carol huffed.

"I like him," Carol said. "I mean…I think I like him…"

She could feel Alice's facial expression…she didn't even need to look in her direction.

"OK," Carol admitted. "I like him…"

"So what's the problem?" Alice asked. "He likesa you…you likesa him…"

She stopped singsonging her words for the moment and sighed with a touch of a growl coming at the end of it.

"What's the problem, Carol Ann? Because I don't get it…" Alice declared.

Carol shook her head.

"I don't know that there is a problem…I'm just saying that I'm going through a divorce…I'm…getting out of a bad marriage," Carol said.

"And if you like him enough and he likes you enough, you might go into a good marriage from here," Alice declared, taking her hands off the frame that Carol had almost together at this point.

"My marriage was a complete…a complete disaster…I don't know if I can do that again," Carol said. "What if…I did something to Daryl? I mean what if I did something to Ed? He doesn't deserve that…"

Alice sighed and started to unwrap the cloth part of the tent that Sophia brought her, bound up in plastic.

"OK…I'm going to tell you a little secret about marriage, Carol," Alice declared.

Carol raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's a fucking archaic ass ritual," Alice said.

Carol chuckled.

"No…I'm dead serious," Alice protested. "It is…and if people want to get married because they like the symbolism behind it…then by all means…go for it. But that shit…what it really boils down to? It's just a property contract…it's the same damn thing as if I run down to the Farmer's Market and buy two pigs and ask for a contract or something to be drawn up saying that I'll pay some given amount of money and in return I get two pigs…except for…sometimes…when you get married…you just get the one pig."

Carol took the cloth thing and started to Velcro it into place per the instructions and Sophia, seeing her tent that would be…once they set it up in the corner where Alice had said it should go…just big enough for her to sit in, come together, was crawling all over Alice and squealing about the new toy that would be exciting for less time than it had taken them to put it together.

"My point is," Alice continued, "that marriage doesn't mean anything more than what you want it to mean…because you probably don't want it to mean what it used to mean…and I can't even get married, you know that…I mean if I ever got married all the longstanding, beautiful marriages built on trust, love, and compassion in the world would crumble just on principle…but my relationships are still valid relationships…"

"I'm not arguing against that," Carol declared, pushing the tent in front of her toward the corner that Sophia would likely wrestle it out of very soon. "Look…Soph…your tent…"

And as Sophia barreled toward the toy, Carol wondered if it could even withstand initial impact.

"So that's all your relationship with Ed was…it was a relationship…" Alice said. "That's what I'm getting at. You took some archaic vows that are…today…essentially like a public pinky promise…and your relationship broke up. There was no magic taking place just because of the pinky promise. It was the same as every other relationship in the whole damn world…just a relationship…you get out what you put in. And in the case, like Ed's, where someone is akin to primordial sludge…then you can't ever get much out of it because they're just not much to begin with…but you got Soph out of it…"

Carol smiled a little to herself.

If she never got anything else out of her marriage to Ed…Alice was right about the one thing…she got Sophia.

"Yeah…" Carol said. "So maybe it's just relationships I'm not good at…"

Alice growled and banged her hand on the floor, distracting Sophia from packing her stuffed animals into the tent. Sophia scolded Alice for the noise that had startled her and Alice laughed, apologizing and telling Sophia that she was fine before she turned back to Carol.

"That's the thing…if you look at this…if you break it down," Alice said, "what it comes down to is that you had a failed relationship. That's it…the same thing a million, trillion other people in the world have had. You aren't responsible for Ed's shortcomings…you aren't even responsible for the relationship going badly. It just happens sometimes."

Carol frowned slightly. It was much easier to say these things than to feel them, even if part of her did find Alice terribly persuasive.

Alice shrugged slightly at her.

"Don't give up on even a potentially good relationship just because there was a bad one in your past," Alice said. "If this goes south on its own…sit back and wave farewell to it…and I'll poor the drinks…but it might go great. Don't let Ed have any more power…you deserve better than that."

Carol leaned and offered her arms toward Alice and her friend met her, hugging her and rubbing her back.

"I hate you…" Carol whispered.

Alice chuckled.

"Not nearly as much as I hate you," Alice said. "Now…you said you were making dinner…"

Carol pulled away.

"I did?" Carol asked.

Alice bobbed her head.

"You did…I heard it," Alice declared. "I think…I'm pretty sure I did…"

Carol laughed.

"What the hell can I say?" Carol teased. "You're always right…I'm making dinner…"


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

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Carol might have rejected Daryl's offer for a date because Alice was out herself and she wasn't going to ask her to stay in to keep Sophia on one of her few nights that she actually had plans…and Daryl had already stated it was a "just them" kind of thing. Except he surprised her…because before she could even say that she didn't have a babysitter and that she didn't know anyone in the area to call, he'd told her that he'd already gotten a babysitter for her…someone who kept Russ sometimes…and that she couldn't turn him down because he'd already paid the girl…and she didn't refund cancellations with less than a twenty four hour notice.

So Carol had accepted, listened to him sing the praises of the girl a little more, stating that though she was in high school still, she was great with kids. Her mother apparently ran a daycare that Russ went to after school, and her sister taught the kindergarten class that Russ was currently enrolled in.

When the girl got to Alice's house, dropped off by someone, though Carol didn't see who was driving the car, she looked sweet…and like Carol assumed any typical high school student looked…though Carol didn't remember everyone looking so young in high school.

"I'm Beth…" the girl said when Carol opened the door. "Um…I'm babysitting?"

Carol smiled and opened the door wider, inviting the girl inside.

"I'm Carol…and…" Carol looked around, finally finding evidence of movement that told her that Sophia was hiding in her tent…with every toy she could cram into the tiny space with her, "and that's Sophia. Soph…can you come out and see Ms. Beth? Can you come say hi?"

Sophia came crawling out of the space after a moment…her curiosity getting the best of her…but she didn't offer an immediate "hi" to Beth. Instead she made a run for Carol and Carol picked her up, running her fingers through her hair once the girl was on her hip.

"Sophia…this is Ms. Beth…can you say hi?" Carol repeated.

"Hi…" Sophia said to make her mother happy.

"Hi Sophia!" Beth said, leaning close to the girl. Carol caught a hint of a smile from Sophia before she buried her face in Carol's shoulder that told her that her shy act probably wouldn't last too long.

"She's always just a little shy right at first," Carol offered.

Beth smiled.

"I'm used to that," she offered. "I'm sure we'll get along fine…"

Carol took the girl through the house then, showing her where everything was…telling her what Sophia liked to watch on television…telling her about bath time and bed time and what they had there to eat, and she wished she'd known ahead of time that the girl was coming so she could offer her better food than just whatever was in the fridge and cabinets.

But Beth insisted that she'd be fine, and by the time that Carol saw Daryl pull up outside, Sophia had begun to show Beth her toy collection…much larger now than she'd ever had before since Alice was a sucker and would give her whatever she wanted…and had begun to insist that Beth sit on the floor to admire her things.

So Carol kissed her on the forehead and then slipped out as quietly as she could, hoping to avoid a scene that the girl might have to deal with, and she found Daryl out of his truck and cleaning out the passenger seat, throwing things into the backseat when she got there.

"I'm de-Russifyin' everythin' now," Daryl said apologetically, not looking at Carol.

"It's fine, Daryl…really…Alice gave Sophia a sucker that's like a pacifier yesterday and we lost it…I found it today in my hair…I think I'll be fine in your truck…" Carol said.

Daryl turned around, chuckling and shaking his head.

"Well…ya look good," he said, when he was facing her. "Sucker ain't done ya no harm…"

Carol laughed.

"You look handsome…and I went so far as to take a shower for you," Carol said.

Daryl smiled.

"That's 'bout good as it gets right there," Daryl teased. He stepped back, ushering Carol into the truck and he closed the door behind her.

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"Figure we get shit out in the open…when they ain't no kids…'cause Russ is like a damn sponge an' he picks up everythin' ya don't want him ta hear an' he misses everythin' ya do…" Daryl said as he sat across the table from Carol, eating at the small restaurant that was attached to the mall.

He'd wanted, apparently, to have a date that was just them so that they could talk. They could say whatever the hell it was they needed to say about their lives…ask whatever they needed to ask…lay out the way that things were.

So that if they decided to move forward from here, no one was in the dark about anything they wanted to know…and if they decided it was too much, they could bow out gracefully before anyone could complain that they'd invested too much time and energy into whatever this was.

And Carol felt a little nervous about the idea of revealing herself…and she felt nervous about the possible, or even probable, rejection that might take place…but on the other hand she was a little relieved of thinking that they could take the chance to simply put it out there and walk away with information instead of walking away with all the random worries and doubts that she, at least, was carrying around.

She nodded her head.

"Sounds good," she said. "So…how do we start?"

Daryl shrugged.

"Didn't figure there was no way ta do that other than just do it," Daryl said.

He ate a fry from his plate and nodded his head at her while he did so, so she waited to see what he might say or do. When he was done, he started talking again.

"Hell…I'll start," he said. "I…uh…been single for four years…an' I ain't countin' all the lil' one time dates an' shit'cha go on 'cause someone wrestled ya ass into it. Them things where ya spend the whole damn time wishin' the shit would be over…I don't count it 'cause it don't count…it don't matter."

"I can agree with that," Carol said softly.

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"Heather…Russ's Ma…I was with her…damn I'ma say six months but I might be lyin'…'fore she ended up pregnant," Daryl said. "I didn't love her…didn't love her then…don't love her now…never loved her…"

Carol was struck a little with how he said it. His tone of voice made it clear that he meant exactly what he was saying, too. It was clear that he hadn't loved this woman…it wasn't clear that he was void of all feelings for her…but love he was definitely without.

"I…uh…stayed with her while she was pregnant," Daryl said, nodding his head a little as he spoke. "I wanted ta try ta make it work…figured I'd get ta lovin' her eventually…"

"But you didn't?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled then.

"Hell…it never was gonna work…but I thought we could make it work for Russ," Daryl said. "When…he was just borned…lil' bitty damn thing…she said she ain't wanted him. Said she was puttin' him up for adoption…give him ta somebody did want him. I just watched as she signed the damn papers…signed right there…bigger'n shit…like she was returning somethin' she bought that just didn't fit right…"

"But you wanted him," Carol offered when Daryl broke off.

He nodded his head.

"He's my kid," Daryl said. "I know he prob'ly coulda done a whole lot better than me…an' a lotta damn people they told me weren't right for me ta try ta raise a kid on my own…he needed more'n me…but…I just couldn't sign the papers…I couldn't just get rid a' Russ…"

Carol bit the inside of her mouth because she thought that she might cry just at the emotion that was on his face over the thought of giving up Russ…and she understood the feeling because she'd kept herself awake at nights worrying about if Ed would try to take Sophia, even if it was an empty worry because he wanted the little girl no more than Heather had wanted Russ.

But that didn't mean that Carol didn't think about losing Sophia and see it as absolutely the greatest tragedy she could face…and from Daryl's face, she could tell that he felt the same thing about Russ.

"The people that told you that Russ needed more than you? That he could do better?" Carol said, ashamed a little at how her voice came out. She shook her head adamantly at Daryl when he looked at her. "They were wrong…he seems like a perfectly wonderful child to me…and I don't think anyone could do better…"

Daryl chuckled and then cleared his throat.

"Reckon ya gotta say that…right? Don't wanna be an asshole…" he said.

Carol shook her head at him again.

"Anyway…" Daryl said after a moment. "I guess I learned that…havin' Russ an' datin'…they don't mix too damn good…'cause if I wanted ta end somethin' real quick just had ta say I had a kid…an' then if they was hangin' on long enough ta say how damn cute an' do I got him every other weekend…all I had ta say was he ain't got no ma…an'…"

He stopped and laughed at whatever he was thinking and Carol laughed just at the fact that he got so amused by whatever was playing in his mind.

"Well…that's when the hell they'd go ta the damn bathroom…never fuckin' come back…or…remember they left a damn bonfire goin' in they livin' room," Daryl said.

Carol nodded her head.

She didn't feel that way about Russ…if Daryl had a son, which he did, then he just had a son. That's all there was to it. At least she knew that he was the kind of man who wouldn't lose his mind over the fact that a child cried because they were tired or got hurt…he wasn't the kind of man who wouldn't understand that sometimes children weren't just quiet and tucked out of the way and invisible. They weren't furniture.

"Well…" Carol offered, "I'm not going to the bathroom…at least not to run away…and I hope there's no fire in my living room…"

Daryl laughed.

"What about you?" He asked.

Carol shrugged.

"There's not that much to tell," she offered. "I got married right out of college…I was a house wife…now I'm getting divorced long distance…and I have Sophia."

Daryl nodded his head slightly.

"Can I ask…what happened with ya husband?" Daryl asked.

Carol swallowed. She was expecting it to come…but that didn't mean she really wanted to answer it. Still, she would answer it because Daryl had been, or at least she suspected he had, honest with her and she owed that to him.

"My husband was…abusive," Carol said, paying close attention to the food she wasn't eating at the moment so that she didn't have to see any judgment on his face for having ended up in such a location. "I should have left…not long after I married him…but I didn't. When he…threatened Sophia…"

She stopped and Daryl got her attention by reaching across the table and pushing her face in his direction with his hand.

She couldn't read his expression. Maybe there was pity there…it didn't look like judgment…but all he did was nod his head.

"Think I got the idea," he said when she was looking at him. "An'…hell…at least…at least ya divorcin' his ass now, right?"

Carol felt the clenching in her chest release a little at the realization that there wasn't going to be any harsh judgment. There wasn't going to be any telling her that she should have never gotten in there in the first place…that she should have seen the warning signs…that she should have left after the first time that he'd hurt her and ignored his apology, even though the same people often preached the importance of turning the other cheek.

Daryl wasn't offering any of that…at least not now. Now all it appeared that he was going to say was that at least she was getting divorced now. At least she'd taken herself and Sophia away from Ed…and Carol was thankful that there wasn't more to it.

She let out her breath and nodded her head.

"Yeah…at least I'm away from him now and Soph is safe…and she's happy," Carol said.

Daryl smiled.

"She's cute…looks like you," Daryl said.

He turned his attention to his food quickly and filled his mouth, looking a little lighter, much like Carol felt, than he had when they'd started the conversation.

"So…" Carol said after a moment. "What are we…going to do?"

Daryl shrugged.

"It don't bother me that'cha divorcin' ya husband…an' it don't bother me that'cha gotta kid," he said. "I need ya ta understand that I got Russ…an' that sometimes that just means that…hell I don't know…means I ain't always available…I guess?"

Carol nodded her head.

"And I have a two year old…and I'm going to have a job…and I'm not always going to be available…because I can leave her with a babysitter sometimes…but I don't want to leave her with a babysitter all the time," Carol said. "I like being with my daughter."

Daryl chuckled.

"An' I like bein' with Russ," he said. "'Cause even though right now I know he's havin' a good time lovin' all over my sister in law…I still worry 'bout him the whole damn time…worry that he's gonna want me for some damn reason…an' I ain't gonna be there…"

Carol nodded her head.

"Parental guilt?" She asked.

"Reckon you could call it that," Daryl said.

"So…the cards are on the table," Carol said. "We've both got kids…we both don't want to leave our kids out of the picture…so I guess that means the question is…can we date with two kids?"

Daryl washed down the food he was chewing with his soda and then put his elbows on the table like he was thinking for a moment.

"I'm willin' ta give it a damn try," he said. "But if ya ain't…I ain't gon' fault'cha for it. I been single a long damn time…you ain't…an' I know I was so damn pissed off at Heather for pullin' the shit she pulled it took me a long damn time not ta think ever' single damn woman was a bitch just because she was a woman…"

Carol sucked in a breath and nodded her head.

"Ed…I don't want to end up with a man like him ever again," Carol said. "But…"

Daryl shook his head and made something of a noise, cutting her off and leaving the word hanging in the air.

"I'm an asshole…an' I'ma lotta damn things…but I don't hit no damn body 'less they really got it comin' an' I ain't never hit a woman before," Daryl said.

Carol nodded her head.

"I was going to say that I didn't think you were much like Ed," Carol offered.

Daryl chewed his lip and nodded his head, returning to grazing through the pile of fries that he had left and Carol marveled at his stamina because she knew she couldn't get through half her food if she really wanted to.

"So we're going to try? Kids and all?" Carol asked after a second.

"I'm in if you are," Daryl said. "Just don't expect a whole damn lot…"

And Carol laughed at the smirk that he gave her when he said it, glancing up at her.

"Ditto," she said, not trying to hide her amusement.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Here we go, another chapter! **

**I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story, I'm having a lot of fun with it and I'm (a lot like you) curious to see where it goes! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Russ…settle ya ass down now, I mean it," Daryl said. Russ was trying to crawl on top of him what he could tell…but at this rate the boy would never fall asleep and Daryl was tired enough himself at the moment that he was considering just sleeping right where he was and hoping for the best for Russ.

Russ slumped down against the mattress and Daryl scooped his hand under him, pulling the boy against him in something of a hug to serve as a trap to keep him still and listening to the story…and hopefully to lull him closer to sleep.

"But Daddy…" Russ whispered, like whispering the question to come would make it not count as much since Daryl told him to listen and stop asking questions.

"What is it?" Daryl asked.

"If Hansel goes out the forest? Do the hunter go with him or he stays in the forest with the ogrees?" Russ asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"Ogre…an' they's only one ogre…" Daryl said. "Whatta you think? Ya think he oughta should ask the hunter ta go with him? Or ya reckon the hunter'd rather stay in his forest?"

"Hansel should ask him to go," Russ said. "'Cause he knows where he's going but Hansel…he's still lost…"

Daryl chuckled.

"Maybe the hunter only knows where he's goin' 'cause it's his forest? Ya reckon? He might get on out there…where he don't know as good…an' then he'd be just as lost as Hansel…" Daryl responded.

Russ squirmed a little like he was going to try to come up again…sit straight back up…and Daryl caught him quickly with his hand, holding him down. After a second, Russ got the message and relaxed back again against Daryl's arm.

"He should go with Hansel," Russ said. "There might be more ogrees and he's…he won't get lost…"

Daryl chuckled and sat up then, letting Russ slide all the way onto his mattress.

"Alright…tell ya what…I'll check my sources an' let'cha know tomorrow night what happens when Hansel an' the hunter talk about leavin' the forest…OK?" Daryl said.

"Do I go to see Miss Maggie tomorrow?" Russ asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"Tomorrow's Saturday, remember?" Daryl asked. "Ya might see Miss Maggie tomorrow…but we ain't goin' to ya school…goin' ta see Miss Jo…an' Papa Hershel…'member? Gonna see the pony an' the goats?"

Russ's eyes lit up. He'd forgotten that Daryl was taking him up to Hershel and Jo's house…even though he'd probably heard about every day for a week…to play with the animals.

Jo had been taking care of Russ since he was a baby while Daryl worked, and she still took care of him when he got out of school until Daryl or someone else could get over to pick him up, but it was a special treat when Daryl took him up there specifically to see the animals and could chaperone while he got dirty with one creature or another that Hershel had on his farm.

"Tomorrow?" Russ asked.

Daryl nodded.

"Yep…tomorrow…did'ja go pee?" Daryl asked.

Russ looked like he had to think about it far too hard before he nodded that he had indeed done his business before bed and Daryl didn't feel like washing another load of sheets if it could be avoided.

"Go do it again," Daryl said.

Russ didn't argue. He knew better than to argue about it when someone told him to go potty, even if he got told three times in a row by three different people, because there had been more than one time that he'd insisted he didn't have to go only to have an accident in record time afterwards.

Russ got out of the bed and Daryl sat down on the floor beside the bed to wait on him…since Russ seemed to take his time when he went to the bathroom…it was a ritual for him and one that he enjoyed. He particularly enjoyed any bathroom that wasn't his own…and that meant that he had to go any time they were in a new place, if for nothing more than to see what the new bathroom might have to offer.

When Russ came back in his room and crawled in bed, Daryl tucked him in with his bear.

"Lemme ask ya somethin'…" Daryl said once Russ was snuggled in. "You 'member Miss Carol?"

Russ looked at him a moment like he was confused.

"Lady come here with her lil' girl, Sophia? Red hair?" Daryl asked, pointing to his head as though it could somehow illustrate his point and renew the boy's memory.

Russ nodded enthusiastically, though, so it must have done something for him.

"What'cha think a' her?" Daryl asked.

Russ shrugged. Daryl didn't know if he was expecting a discourse on her…but he obviously wasn't getting one. He cleared his throat and nodded a little.

"Would ya wanna see her again? See Sophia?" Daryl asked.

No response beyond the stare.

"Would'ja like it if they was ta come up ta Papa Hershel's an' ta see all ya animals with ya?" Daryl asked.

"Um…" Russ hummed, obviously considering the question very carefully. "Umm…that would be OK…that could be OK…but does Papa Hershel know…her?"

Daryl snickered.

"He's gon' know her," Daryl said. "An' her name is Miss Carol…ya might wanna try ta remember that…ya might be seein' her…ya know? Ya might see her more'n ya been seein' her…"

Russ nodded at him, but didn't respond and Daryl got up from the floor and leaned over, kissing Russ on the forehead. He ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry 'bout it right now…ya gotta sleep. Don't wanna be fallin' all ta sleep tomorrow an' then Papa Hershel might not let'cha ride the pony," Daryl said. "Wouldn't want'cha fallin' down an' breakin' ya beany lil' head…"

Russ giggled at him and Daryl ruffled his hair once more before he checked the night light and flipped off the overhead light.

"Night buddy," Daryl said. "Love ya."

"Love ya too, Daddy," Russ responded before Daryl slipped out of the room, cracking the door behind him and checked the time to make sure it was a good time to call Carol and remind her of their plans to entertain themselves…and the little ones…with the best petting zoo that could be put together in a moment's notice.

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"There you go!" Alice declared to Sophia. "Two pig tails…and now what do you say?"

"Thanks, Addie," Sophia responded, grinning at Alice.

Carol smiled from where she was leaning against the doorway and then she came into the small room that they now called the nursery…and that was now beginning to actually look like one. Carol lowered herself down to sit on the floor not too far off from Alice.

"Come here, Soph…let Mommy…fix your hair a little bit," Carol said.

Alice shot her a look.

"Those are fucking beautiful pig tails right there," Alice declared. "That child is cute enough to eat…you don't need to fix anything."

Sophia came over to Carol, clutching the stuffed mouse that she'd decided was her new best friend since it had come…inexplicably…into the house a few days before. Carol twirled her finger in the air and Sophia watched it, smiling at her, before she turned around, backing up into Carol until she plopped down, having nowhere else to go.

Carol started fixing the pigtails that Alice had, with the best of intentions, begun for the girl.

"She is cute enough to eat," Carol declared. "But you have absolutely no sense of symmetry."

Alice hummed at her.

"I could cut your heart in half and sew it back together," Alice commented. "That's symmetry right there…"

Alice leaned up on her hands and knees, playfully rocking toward Sophia, and Sophia squealed and squirmed a little, making Carol laugh too.

"See?" Alice declared. "Even Sophia thinks that's funny…"

Carol shook her head.

"Sophia just thinks you're funny," Carol responded. She lifted Sophia to her feet and turned the little girl around and Sophia peeked at her, big blue eyes all that was really visible of her face, from around the mouse she clutched. "And that's just because she's not old enough to know any better," Carol added, laughing herself when Alice lunged forward from her position and grabbed at her side enough to tickle her.

And Sophia apparently thought that the game was the greatest game in the world, so she laughed and cheered them both on as they pretended to have some kind of tickle war…which on Carol's side wasn't so much pretend since she was pretty ticklish and Alice had always remembered that.

When the humor of the situation died down for Sophia…and Carol's ribs ached from laughing…they finally stopped the game and Carol moved around, attempting to get herself off the floor.

Alice found her feet first and reached a hand out to Carol, heaving her onto her feet.

"Let's go…Soph…gotta eat a snack," Carol declared.

Sophia could get particularly cranky when she was hungry…crankier than she could get over most anything else that happened to her…and Carol didn't want to take any chances that by the time Daryl stopped to pick them up the girl had decided that her breakfast no longer did the trick of keeping away the hunger pangs that she couldn't stand to suffer.

Carol got Sophia into her high chair and went about getting together a snack for the girl while she waited patiently. Sophia had the patience of a saint as long as she knew that food was at the end of the wait.

"So where are you going?" Alice asked, running her fingers through her hair…which she never bothered to comb any other way on her days off…and leaning against the kitchen counter.

"It's a friend of Daryl's," Carol said. "He's got a farm…and he's going to let the kids play with the animals…like a petting zoo, but we know the owners."

"We know the owners?" Alice asked, teasing in her voice. "We're going to the petting zoo farm because we know the owners?"

Carol shot her a look and handed her a container of yogurt.

"Can you feed her? So she doesn't get covered in yogurt?" Carol asked.

Alice nodded, a grin still on her face, and took the container, pulling a chair up beside Sophia who already had her mouth open, following Alice around with it like a baby bird waiting for a worm.

"I just meant…" Carol said, trying to explain her choice in vocabulary, "I just meant it in the general sense of the term…"

Alice snorted.

"OK…so we're going to the petting zoo farm…because we know the owners…and what else?" Alice asked.

Carol brought the grapes over and the small cubes of cheese and put them on Sophia's tray so that she could alternate between eating them and requesting yogurt by holding her mouth open and sticking her tongue out at Alice.

"I don't know what else," Carol admitted. "I don't know if there is a what else…we're just going to take the kids to play with the animals…"

"And you're taking an overnight bag?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrows.

Carol furrowed her brow.

"I didn't pack an overnight bag…" she said, wondering if Alice had mistaken the diaper bag she'd been putting together all morning as some kind of overnight bag.

"It wasn't a question," Alice said, offering more of the yogurt to Sophia when she got a shrill squawk from the girl for not paying attention to her job.

Carol felt her cheeks grow a little warm.

"I'm not staying overnight," Carol said.

Alice raised her shoulders in something of a shrug.

"I'm saying…at least put a toothbrush in there…you know…just in case," Alice said. "Then if you don't want to stay the night…you don't have to…and he doesn't have to know you had the toothbrush…but if you do want to stay the night, then you've got it…and having it shows him that you know what you want…even if you don't know what you want right now."

Carol stared at her friend for a moment and then shook her head, smiling slightly.

"You're devious! Do you really do that?" Carol asked.

Alice nodded.

"Better to be prepared," Alice said. "There's almost always a toothbrush in my purse. You never know…and having it shows confidence…and confidence is sexy…not that you need any help."

Alice winked at Carol and Carol shook her head at her, but she did get up and go to the bathroom, surprised at how nervous she felt…and how naughty…when she came out of the bathroom with it.

Alice just smiled.

"Ziplocs…cabinet by the stove…" Alice said.

Carol nodded and went to get a baggie for the toothbrush before she slipped it into one of the side pockets on the oversized diaper bag.

"Get Soph's pajamas too," Alice called. "And her toothbrush…just in case, I mean."

"Just in case…that's all…" Carol declared as she passed back by the kitchen on her way to get Sophia's pajamas.

"Just in case!" Alice reiterated.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol felt nervous as she got Sophia out of the car seat that they'd wrestled into the back of Daryl's truck. He already had Russ out, since the little boy was obviously a master mind at getting out of his own car seat and now the boy was running around outside the truck.

Carol felt almost like she was meeting Daryl's parents…though the fact of the matter was that he wasn't related to the old man and woman at all, from what she understood. They were simply good friends.

Carol closed the truck door, holding Sophia on her hip, and walked around the truck toward where Daryl was standing, smiling at the old man that was coming toward them.

Russ ran toward the old man and before a moment had even passed, the old man scooped the boy up and brought him the rest of the way to where he'd just run from.

"You must be Carol," Hershel said, addressing Carol.

She glanced at Daryl who was smiling and offered the man a smile, nodding her head.

"I've heard good things," Hershel said.

Carol glanced at Daryl again, but he wasn't offering any information whatsoever and she wondered what he could possibly have to tell this man about her.

"And this is Sophia?" Hershel asked, reaching a hand out and rubbing Sophia on the arm. Sophia, playing shy as she always did at first, turned her face into Carol's shoulder.

Carol smiled again.

"This is Sophia…she's playing shy," Carol said.

"Bethie told me about her," Hershel said.

Carol raised an eyebrow in question.

"Bethie…" she started.

"She babysat?" Daryl offered.

Hershel chuckled.

"She's mine and Jo's youngest," Hershel said. "And I'm Hershel…and Jo is my wife."

Carol nodded her head, starting to put pieces of the puzzle together for herself.

"Well…I'm very happy to meet you," Carol said. "And I'm so happy you let us come out here…Sophia hasn't ever gotten to play with animals, really."

"No?" Hershel asked.

He stopped a moment and put Russ down who was squirming and Carol watched as the boy darted off for a second…obviously very at home at the place.

"No…we didn't…" Carol stopped.

She wasn't sure how she wanted to explain that Ed had absolutely hated animals…and that he'd really hated for her to go anywhere with Sophia…so as a result she hadn't really gotten to take Sophia very many places until now.

"There were never any animals around…where I used to live," Carol offered. "But she loves animals on television."

Sophia was watching the old man with some concern right now, and Carol suspected that it might be because he looked, at least to her, a good deal like most movie depictions of Santa Clause.

Hershel held his hands out to Sophia as if to ask her if she might like to come to him and she furrowed her brows a little deeper at him, but Carol noticed her loosen her grip a little where she clung to her.

"You want to see my animals?" Hershel asked. "I've got all kinds of animals…I've even got a pony…do you like ponies?"

Carol almost laughed at both Hershel's mannerisms with Sophia and Sophia's expressions at him…but it didn't take too much to win the little girl over and the mention of a pony seemed to do the trick…as would have the mention of a bunny, puppy, kitty, or any other fun animal that appeared on Sophia's barnyard movie.

So Sophia, without further concern for her safety, reached her arms out toward the old man and let him take her, settling her against his hip. She leaned into him and when he didn't respond, like she thought he was supposed to, she leaned out and leaned into him again, making Hershel cast a glance at Carol.

"She…uh…" Carol broke off and laughed to herself about how they'd trained the girl already. "She thinks because you picked her up now you're going to…kiss her face."

Hershel laughed and kissed Sophia on the cheek that she was offering him while she chewed at her fingers. She looked satisfied then and straightened herself up in his arms.

"Bunny…" Sophia offered him.

Carol shook her head.

"I told her you might have bunnies," Carol admitted. "And might…apparently means that you must…"

Hershel laughed again.

"You're in luck," he told Sophia while she studied him, "I do have rabbits…and they're very friendly…let's go have a look?"

Sophia nodded at him and Russ came running back from wherever he'd gone. Carol noticed that his knees were dirty and figured he might have taken a spill, but it didn't seem to phase him one bit.

"Papa Hershel…Papa Hershel! They's six ducks at the pond! We gotta go get 'em!" Russ declared.

"We'll leave ducks for later," Hershel declared, offering a hand to Russ which the boy took. "We have to see some rabbits and Strudel misses you…"

And Carol watched as the old man walked off, Sophia riding on one hip as though she had no care in the world as long as they were going to see bunnies, and Russ walking along beside him having a conversation about whatever it was that Strudel might be.

Daryl bumped her gently.

"Welcome ta the mad house," he said with a chuckle. "Reckon we oughta go with him…but he wouldn't notice if we was gone all day…"

Carol nodded her head at him. She got the feeling that Hershel might take some time to notice if they weren't with him…but both of them started off, following the old man and his two new friends toward one of the barns that seemed to be his destination.

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"Don't pinch…don't pinch…" Russ whined at Daryl.

"Russ…hold still…" Daryl said. "I got my finger there…ain't gonna pinch if ya hold still."

Carol stood to the side with Hershel, near the ancient little pony that she'd met and who was waiting patiently, apparently completely unmoved by all that was happening around him, as Daryl snapped the little helmet on Russ's head.

Hershel laughed at the boy.

"One time his chin got pinched," Hershel explained. "Since then he's considered the helmet to be very dangerous."

Carol nodded her understanding of the story and glanced at Sophia, who was covered in dirt and sitting in the barn floor hugging the brown and white spotted rabbit who seemed to have accepted its fate as a breathing stuffed animal and had given up trying to escape Sophia's long lasting hug.

Hershel followed her glance.

"You know…if you wanted a pet…I could see clear of setting you up with a rabbit," Hershel offered.

Carol shook her head.

"I'd have to talk to my roommate," she said. "It's her house…"

Hershel nodded.

"Well…they're actually really good pets," he offered. "Not too much maintenance…but you let me know. We always have a few. Jo loves them, so they're really more her pets than mine, but I think she'd part with one if she knew it was going to be so…loved."

Carol laughed and reached her hand out, rubbing the pony that was standing there.

"So this is Strudel?" She asked, even though she knew the answer.

Hershel nodded.

"He's the oldest thing on this farm," Hershel said. "Jo and myself excluded…but he loves children. We used to take him to the fairs…do the pony rides…but now he's retired except for Russ. Sophia could ride him if she wanted. Just walk along beside her…if she can sit in a chair, she could sit on Strudel."

Carol giggled at the idea that poor Strudel had all the get up and go of a chair, though she didn't doubt it by his demeanor.

Daryl picked Russ up and sat him on the pony and Russ grinned ear to ear as he buried his hands in the little animal's mane.

"You ready to go, Russ?" Hershel asked.

"Giddy up Strudel!" Russ commanded.

And Hershel led the little pony out of the barn at a snail's pace while Russ probably enjoyed, at least in his mind, the freeing run of riding a wild horse.

"Sophia, can we put the bunny back in the box?" Carol asked, not wanting to leave the rabbit free of the hutch that they'd plucked it from and given to the girl as an animal sacrifice.

"My bunny…" Sophia said with a smile, hugging the rabbit who was more or less oblivious to her and calmly accepting its fate.

Still, Carol worried for the poor thing, knowing how Sophia could be when she was enthusiastic with her hugging.

"Let's put the bunny with its Mommy and Daddy," Carol offered…even though she wasn't sure if the bunny shared any relation to the other rabbits in the hutch. "We'll go outside? See the other animals?"

"They got ducks," Daryl offered. "An' you ain't even seen the goats yet…you wanna hug a goat?"

Sophia looked at Daryl, wide eyes.

"Goat?" She asked him.

Daryl smiled and nodded.

"Yep…wanna hug a goat?" He asked again.

And Carol could tell that Sophia was struggling with a very hard decision…was the goat worth relinquishing the rabbit?

But finally, she seemed to decide that it was worth it because she released the bunny, who didn't bother to go far but did hop off of her lap, and she reached her arms toward Daryl.

He chuckled and picked her up while Carol caught the rabbit and put it back where she'd seen Hershel get it from. Then she walked over and joined Daryl and Sophia so they could walk out the barn and find where Russ had gone on his wild ride…and where the goats in need of hugging might be hiding.

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"Come on in…" Jo Greene said, holding the door of the house open so that Carol could pass inside with Sophia who was passed out against her shoulder. The woman led her into the living room where she'd made up a sleep pallet for the little girl and Carol eased her down on it, dropping the diaper bag she'd brought off her shoulder as she went.

She changed Sophia's diaper while the girl slept through it, too exhausted to even notice, and she wiped some of the dirt off her hands with an extra wipe before she rolled the dirty diaper up.

She covered Sophia with the little blanket and got to her feet, holding the dirty diaper that she had rolled up. And it was only then that she really took a moment to take in Jo Greene.

"I'm Carol," Carol said apologetically, her voice low, even though she knew it wouldn't wake Sophia.

Jo smiled and nodded her head.

"I got that much…I'm Jo," Jo said. "You can leave her here…she'll be fine…and I'll find you when she wakes up," Jo offered.

The woman took the dirty diaper out of Carol's hand and went to throw it away and Carol followed her, thanking her for letting her bring Sophia in to nap a little while Russ continued to harass one species of animal or another.

Russ was a bundle of energy, but eventually it had all gotten to be too much for Sophia, and she still very much needed her naps.

"You have a beautiful home," Carol commented.

And part of it was born out of the need to say something to the woman…but part of it was true. The house was lovely and cozy…and the farm was very nice.

Jo smiled and thanked Carol before offering her a glass of sweet tea, which Carol took to combat the heat of the summer raging around them outside.

"She's a beautiful little girl," Jo said, slipping and looking at Sophia for a moment before she came back over to where she'd gestured toward a chair for Carol to sit for a moment.

"Thank you," Carol responded. "So you…keep Russ?"

Jo nodded.

"I do…I've kept him since he was two months old," Jo said. "Do you have someone to watch Sophia?"

Carol felt a little relieved that the woman asked the question with the expression that she did…it was like she knew already that Carol had been wondering if this was a possibility…since she would be starting work before too long, and no, she didn't have anyone to watch Sophia.

Carol shook her head.

"I'm going to be teaching at the high school," Carol offered. "And no…I don't know anyone…"

Jo smiled.

"Well…I happen to have a space, if you're looking," Jo said. "I'm licensed…right now I have three little ones regularly…but I won't keep over six at a time. I charge fifty per week…but I can see clear of waiving that until you get on your feet."

Carol nodded her head.

Honestly it sounded much better to her than the few daycares that she'd looking into while in the area. Most of them seemed cold, almost…and they were more expensive than what the woman was proposing. More than anything, though, she liked the woman right off the bat and thought she'd be comfortable leaving Sophia with her…and Russ seemed to be a good example that it certainly hadn't done him any harm.

"I would really appreciate that…I mean you keeping her," Carol said. "I can pay. That's no problem."

Jo smiled and nodded.

"Then consider it done," she said. "We can talk about it, though…I'll give you my number and we'll get everything set up for her so that when you're ready to start working, you don't have to worry about her. She'll be just fine here."

Carol smiled.

"I'm sure she will," Carol said. "Russ loves it here."

Jo smiled.

"Russ is…a very special little boy," Jo said.

And Carol heard it in the woman's voice that she meant wholeheartedly what she said, though Carol didn't doubt it in the slightest.

"He is," Carol said.

Jo got up and Carol mirrored the act, getting to her feet.

"Well…Sophia will be fine," Jo said. "She can sleep while I get some sewing done that I'm working on…I have a lot of odd jobs. I'll let you know when she wakes up…go…have some fun."

Jo winked at Carol and Carol couldn't help but laugh softly at the woman. She and her husband both seemed so _jolly_ or happy that it was almost contagious.

She thanked her again for letting Sophia sleep in the house and Carol slipped outside, heading back in the direction where she'd last left Daryl with Russ and Hershel, walking around and discussing something about some work that Hershel was doing while Strudel, following behind the man almost like a dog, allowed Russ to ride him and live out his cowboy fantasies.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Here we go, another little chapter here!

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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"No…stop…don't do that! No…" Russ said, reaching over and grabbing at Sophia's hand where she was eating beside him on the floor in the living room, Daryl having made them a table out of a bench that apparently Russ ate at with some frequency.

"Son! Let her eat her food her own way an' you eat yours!" Daryl called out from where he and Carol were sitting on the couch watching them.

Carol tried to stifle the laugh with her hand and Daryl gave her a look to go with his growing frustration with Russ.

They'd had a great time at the farm and they'd refused supper with Hershel and Jo, even though it had been offered to them, to take their tired, somewhat cranky, and filthy children to the nearest bathtub.

And Daryl had convinced Carol to come with him to his house so that they could spend some time together when the children passed out. She had agreed, and she'd set to fixing the really pitiful meal that he had available…chicken nuggets, French fries, and green beans…while he'd offered to bathe both of the children.

Now Russ was dressed in his train pajamas, eating, and Sophia was wearing pajamas that Carol had packed for her in the off chance that just such a plan might arise and she'd need to wash and change the little girl.

Except that Russ's greatest interest in the moment seemed to be dictating everything that Sophia did…from how she allowed herself to be bathed, dried off, and dressed, to how she consumed the food that she was eating from the little plastic plate.

And Daryl had to give it to the two year old that she had a lot more patience with Russ than he probably would have had at that age…given that she seemed to have more patience with him than Daryl had now.

"But she's…you don't…you see she's eating…" Russ started.

Daryl knew by now that Russ, when he got wound up about something, could get stuck in his speaking almost like a record with a scratch in it. Unless you made him slow down, focus, and go at it again, he might be stuck never getting out the idea with any clarity whatsoever.

Daryl clapped his hands together loudly, stopping Russ…which would ultimately make him focus a little better…and Russ stared at him.

Except for it had an effect on Sophia, her mouth crammed full of green beans and chicken nuggets that he hadn't meant to have at all.

She turned as quickly as Russ at the sound, but instead of simply staring at him like Russ did, she dissolved almost immediately into a pitiful cry, dropping half the food out of her mouth that she'd begun to chew up and worrying Daryl that she'd choke on what was in there.

"No…it's OK," Daryl said. "It's OK…"

"Awww…come here Sophia…it's OK…" Carol said.

Sophia did decide that she could go to Carol, but she didn't decide that she could stop crying…nor that she could stop staring at Daryl as she stumbled toward Carol with her arms out to be scooped into her lap.

"She was…she was eating ketchup with her fingers…you don't eat ketchup with your fingers…" Russ protested loudly, shocked into paying attention by whatever was going on that he probably didn't know how to handle.

"She OK?" Daryl asked Carol, ignoring Russ crawling around his knees now.

Carol hugged the little girl to her who had stopped crying and was chewing at what was left of the food she'd been eating, and wiped at her red cheeks with her hand.

"She's fine…it just surprised her," Carol said. "It was loud and it surprised her…and she's tired…"

Daryl felt sorry for having made the noise now and reminded himself that he was going to have to be careful not to do it…though stomping on the floor or clapping had been something that all of them had employed for a good while to make Russ back up and go again.

"I'm sorry…I ain't meant ta scare her," Daryl said.

Carol looked at him and shook her head.

"Daryl, it's fine," she said. "Nothing happened…she's fine…"

"You're not 'posed to eat ketchup with your fingers…" Russ continued, having almost made the trip to the couch on his knees.

Daryl gritted his teeth.

"Russ…go eat'cha food…if she wants ta eat ketchup with a spoon she can…I don't care…hell…you used ta lick plates if they was spaghetti sauce on 'em…now go eat 'cause if ya don't I swear ya goin' ta bed right now without finishin' ya food," Daryl said.

"But…" Russ started.

"Now…" Daryl said.

Russ turned around and began the trip back toward his plate on his knees, his head hung as though the greatest of injustices had just been done to him.

Daryl leaned, tapping Sophia on the chin and she turned her face, scrubbing ketchup and all on Carol's chest, and then turned back to face him.

He smiled.

"We still friends?" He asked Sophia.

Sophia just sucked back snot at him and Carol squeezed her a little, tickling her and making her smile in spite of her decision to be sour about the scare.

"Don't be mean, Sophia," Carol said. "You're fine…nothing happened…Daryl just clapped his hands. Can you be friends with him?"

Sophia sighed loudly, but she reached her arms out to Daryl and he moved his plate to the arm of the couch so he could pull her over. She sat in his lap.

"So we friends?" He asked.

Sophia nodded at him and then fixed her eyes on the plate, leaning around in an odd position and pointing at it.

"I eat chicken?" Sophia asked him.

Daryl chuckled and brought his plate around in front of her so that she could select, which she did, the chicken nugget that might make him her friend again.

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"You don't gotta do this…" Daryl declared.

"I don't mind," Carol said. "I'm sure I'll survive…you take the night off."

She smiled at him and went into Russ's room under the boy's request that she tell him a bedtime story. When she came in, he was going through a little bookshelf tucked near the foot of his bed, apparently searching for just the right story for such a momentous occasion.

"Where do I go?" Carol asked, looking around the room.

"Right there…" Russ said, pointing to the bed but not drawing his attention away from his search for too much time.

Carol sat down on the little bed and after a moment, Russ came over, holding a book.

He stared at her, brow furrowed, and shook his head.

"No…all the way down…" he said.

He came over and pushed at her chest with one hand and Carol got the message that she was, apparently, supposed to lie down in the bed. She lie back, moving the pillow so that she wasn't flat against the mattress and Russ tugged at her feet.

"All the way in?" She asked, picking her feet up and putting them on the bed.

It was apparently what he wanted, because he crawled roughly over her and made his way up beside her on the bed, plopping against her. She reached for the book he held in his hand and he moved it out of her reach for a moment.

"Um…do you know the story about Hansel?" He asked.

"Hansel and Gretel?" Carol asked.

Russ looked at her and she caught his hand as he snaked a finger toward his nose, knowing full well that this habit was one that Daryl was trying to break before it got started.

"Um…just…just Hansel. We haven't met Gretel…does Hansel meet Gretel with the hunter? Because…they just left the forest with the ogrees…an' we haven't met Gretel…" Russ said.

"She don't know the story, Russ," Daryl called from in the living room. "Pick another story if ya gonna make her tell ya one."

Russ sighed and held out the book that he'd picked off the shelf and Carol accepted it. It was a shortened form of Alice in Wonderland and Carol smiled at it.

"Alice, huh?" Carol asked as Russ rearranged himself and seemed to be pummeling her into being a more comfortable body pillow.

"Yeah…I like Alice…she's got a cat and he smiles real big like this…" Russ said, demonstrating for Carol what was supposed to be a smile but really was just his best effort at showing all of his teeth at once. "And the Tweedles is in this story…an' Uncle Merle…he says Anandrea's gonna have Tweedles…two of 'em…but she's…right now they're in her stomach."

Carol bit her lip not to laugh at Russ. She had no idea what he was talking about, but he was using so much authority that it simply must be true. She nodded her head.

"Oh…" she mused. "I don't know the Tweedles," Carol said. "But I do know Alice."

Russ's eyes got big and he shifted around, sitting next to her instead of laying down.

"You have to lie down," Carol said, already being warned that Russ would fight this part of the process with every fiber of his being if he thought he might get away with it. He responded by lying down again, draping an arm across her and rubbing her.

"You know…Alice?" Russ asked.

"Mmm hmmm," Carol hummed. "I do…she's all grown up now, did you know that?"

Russ looked up at her, wide eyed, and shook his head.

"Where is she?" Russ asked.

Carol stifled a laugh.

"She's at my house…would you want to meet her some day?" Carol asked.

And Russ nodded with the same reverence that someone might have used if she'd asked if they wanted to meet their favorite celebrity. Luckily, she had a pretty good idea that Alice, given enough warning, could pull of an entertaining performance for a four year old.

"Well…if you're good…and your Daddy says you can," Carol said, "then one day you can come to my house and meet Alice…"

"OK…" Russ said, lowering his voice to a whisper. Carol wasn't sure if the whisper was an awe inspired whisper or if it related to the part about being good, but she took the opportunity then to readjust herself, readjust the little boy, and crack open the cover of the book, beginning to read aloud the story of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland.

Russ stopped her from time to time, as they went along, and asked questions or pointed out the fine details of the illustrations that she might have missed since she wasn't paying nearly enough attention to the artwork while she was reading him the words.

Finally, the story finished, Carol closed the book. Russ wasn't asleep, but he was nestled into her, his head resting just above her breast…since he'd requested a change on the angle she was holding the book at because her "booby" covered up "his picture"…and Carol almost hated to disturb him now that he was quiet and still and that was something he rarely seemed to achieve during the day.

"OK," Carol said softly. "It's time for bed now…you want me to send your Daddy in?"

Russ looked at her and yawned and she eased out of the bed, finding that it wasn't the easiest thing in the world now that her body had settled into this position.

She put the book on top of the little bookshelf, figuring that Daryl would reshelve it where it was supposed to be later, and came back, offering to tuck Russ in, which he allowed. She told him goodnight…offered him a kiss on the forehead…and stepped out of the room, slipping past Daryl who was standing in the doorway and waiting to put into motion whatever the final steps of bedtime preparation were for the boy.

"I'll wait in the living room," Carol offered as she walked out. "Goodnight, Russ," Carol said as an afterthought.

"Night Miss Carol," Russ said.

Carol smiled to herself and went into the living room, checking on Sophia who was sprawled out on the pallet that Daryl had made for her. Carol tucked her little mouse next to her and pulled the little blanket up on the girl, licking her thumb and cleaning off some of the dried ketchup that she'd missed earlier.

Then she went to sit on the couch and wait for Daryl to finish with Russ, somewhat proud of her and Daryl both for having managed to pull off a full day with children without anyone being injured or even majorly inconvenienced.

But she still hadn't decided, and she hadn't worried about it until now with the silence around her, what exactly she was going to do about the toothbrush that she'd brought and tucked into Sophia's diaper bag…and Russ might not allow her too much time to figure it out before Daryl came back into the room, possibly expecting an answer, one way or the other.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. I guess you could say that I'm a little hooked on this story right now and trying to get out what I can. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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When Daryl came back into the living room from having put Russ to bed, Carol didn't know if he would suggest that they go on the porch or if he might suggest that they stay there, but he collapse onto the couch suddenly enough to let her know that his plans, at least for the moment, included not leaving the space.

"Tired?" She asked.

He nodded his head, bringing his thumb up and nipping there for a moment.

"Yeah…ain't you?" He asked.

Carol nodded and hummed her response, but didn't bother with actually verbalizing it.

After a moment, she spoke, wondering if she should even try to get conversation going or if it might be best just to call it a night.

"It was a fun day, though," Carol said. "I think Sophia really enjoyed the animals…and I think she's going to like staying with Jo."

"Jo's great with the kids," Daryl said. "Hershel is too…Russ…he's been stayin' there damn near all his life."

"How did you meet them?" Carol asked.

"Met 'em a long damn time ago," Daryl said. "Fixed that ole farm truck Hershel's got a couple damn times…but if ya mean how they got started keepin' Russ?"

Carol nodded.

Daryl chewed at his thumb.

"Man I work for…Mac…when Russ was borned an' Heather…well…she was out the picture pretty damn quick…as ya can imagine," Daryl said, moving around so that he was sitting on the couch, his feet up now and angled toward Carol, "an' he said…well, that women they get time off work when they have kids…an' since I brung Russ home when he was two days old…an' I ain't knowed what the hell I was doin'…he give me two months off. Paid me an' everythin'…said that was on account a' there weren't no Ma…so I got her time off, ya know?"

Daryl laughed a little at the thought and Carol couldn't help but laugh too. It made perfect sense, of course, but she was trying to picture what Daryl might have been like with a two day old newborn and the sudden realization that he had no idea what he was doing.

"So anyway…Mac knows Hershel…'cuase everybody knows Hershel…an' hell, everybody knows Mac…so he was sayin' somethin' one day ta Hershel 'bout me havin' Russ an' ain't had no idea who would keep him when I had ta go back ta work…next thing I know, Jo shows up on my door step with a big ole picnic basket packed full a' casseroles to put in the freezer an' tells me that when I'm ready ta go back ta work…Russ is got him a place ta go," Daryl said.

He leaned back, stretching his muscles and then sat up, rolling his shoulders before he shrugged.

"That's about all they is to it…not much of a story," Daryl said.

Carol smiled.

"I think it's a nice story," she said. "It's obvious that Russ has a lot of people who care about him…very much."

Daryl shifted around, putting his feet back on the floor and Carol smiled to herself. She could see where Russ got his energy from. Even though Daryl was obviously tired, it was clear that he lacked the ability to hold still…he was always doing something…displaying some kind of nervous twitch here or there. He changed his position, ran his fingers through his hair, nipped at his thumb, chewed his lip…there was almost always some kind of movement. Carol could imagine that both of them probably ran marathons in their sleep.

Daryl got up enough to shift closer to her on the couch and Carol recognized what he was doing…he had, after all, admitted that he lacked any "smooth moves" when it came to women…and he was trying to get closer to her and close the gap between them.

So she gave the inch and moved closer to him and he smiled at her, laughing a little to himself because he probably knew that she was well aware that he was, without her having made the shift, just going to keep edging closer.

She smiled at him.

"Is that better?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

He sat back against the back of the couch and ran his hand over his face and Carol could see that he was blushing a little at having been caught. She sat back, allowing him to rest his arm around her shoulder.

"Much," he said. "You wanna watch television or ya wanna talk? I got some movies…but most of 'em are Russ's…"

"I don't think I've seen…" Carol started and she stopped, thinking about her answer in more detail. "No…I know I haven't seen a new movie...in…at least five years."

"I ain't seen a grown up movie in at least four…almost five years," Daryl said. He took a breath and hummed, obviously searching his memory. "Last real movie I seen? Like in the theater? Gotta be over five years 'cause I went with Merle an' Andrea…an' it was back 'fore the theater in Willington closed down."

Carol nodded, though she didn't know where Willington was…nor did she know that it had a movie theater that had closed down sometime in the span of time that Daryl was discussing.

"Maybe we could go to a movie?" Carol asked. "Sophia's too young…I don't think anyone would appreciate me taking her to a movie…she gets bored watching them at home and only makes it through about thirty minute intervals without something else to do."

Daryl agreed with her with quick sound.

"Russ…he don't do good at watchin' long movies," Daryl said. "He'll sit through 'bout anything if Andrea's holdin' him…but she's the only one that can get him ta mind that long…we might have ta get babysitters if we lookin' ta go to a whole movie somewhere."

Carol nodded her head…and if he wanted it, she gave him a little more to his efforts to get close to her, because she rested her head against his shoulder. And he didn't move or protest, so she figured that he wasn't too bothered by the move.

"Andrea's your?" She started and broke off.

"Sister in law…an' Russ's girlfriend, far as we can tell," Daryl said.

Carol nodded her head. She remembered, now, him saying that. And if she remembered correctly, Andrea had been the woman to suggest the blind date to Alice…so Carol might owe the woman more than she even suspected.

"And is she Anandrea too?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"Yeah…when Russ was just startin' talkin'…he couldn't seem ta get Aunt Andrea out…turned into Anandrea…an' we ain't never been able ta break him of it."

"And is she pregnant or something?" Carol asked. "Russ was saying that…"

Daryl cut her off with a nod of his head and another laugh.

"The Tweedles," Daryl said. Carol nodded, smiling at the thought of calling a baby to be a Tweedle. "Twins," Daryl said. "Hell…they done lost three babies…we keepin' our fingers an' our toes crossed that the Tweedles, they make it."

Carol felt her chest clench for the couple that she didn't even know. She had lost a baby a few years before Sophia had come along…just one of those things that happened she'd always been told…but it had been heartbreaking, and she couldn't imagine losing three.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, knowing that it wasn't much, but it was all she had to offer at the moment.

"Yeah…" Daryl said. "An' I'm sorry ta say it. Both a' them wanted so damn many kids they'da been like the old people lived in the shoe…an' they been steady tryin' for 'bout six years…so we really hopin' for a two for one deal."

"What about you?" Carol asked after a moment.

"Me what?" Daryl asked, his fingers now strumming gently up and down her shoulder.

"Did you want a lot of kids?" Carol asked.

"Mmm…" Daryl held off responding for a moment. "Truth is," he said when he finally decided to answer, "that I don't think…I mean…I didn't never really think about it all that much…ya know? I don't think I even really knew I wanted Russ…'til I had him."

Carol nodded her understanding. Sometimes things worked out that way…sometimes you didn't know what you wanted until you had it. And sometimes you got it and you realized that you still didn't want it…it was only truly unfortunate when the "it" was children.

"You?" Daryl asked.

Carol smiled.

"I knew I wanted children," Carol said. "I don't think I ever thought of how many…but I wanted children."

She considered it for a moment and then continued speaking, since Daryl obviously didn't have anything to add at the moment and had fallen silent.

"I'll be honest," she said, "I wanted children…but it didn't take me long after I had Sophia to think that I didn't want anymore...at least, not with my husband."

"Can I ask ya somethin'?" Daryl asked after a moment. "An' you can tell me ta go ta hell…tell me it ain't none a' my damn business…if ya wanna…"

Carol shrugged slightly.

"Sure…" she said.

She didn't know what he might ask…but she couldn't imagine that he could ask her anything that would drive her to tell him to go to hell…or really that it wasn't any of his business. They were, after all, trying to be as open as they could, and she really had nothing to hide.

"Tonight…was Sophia scared a' the clappin' noise…'cause it was a clappin' noise?" Daryl asked. "Or was she scared a' the noise 'cause…a' ya husband?"

Carol considered the question. It wasn't one that she felt like would merit telling him it was none of his business. He knew about Ed…she'd come clean about that…and it didn't sound like there was any judgment behind it. It was simply a question.

And it was a question that she didn't know the real answer to.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I mean…she doesn't like loud noises…she startles easily. She doesn't like fireworks or explosions and things on television…she doesn't like yelling of any kind, but I don't know if that's…because of Ed…or because she's small…"

"Just wonderin'," Daryl said quietly when she stopped talking. "I ain't meant ta scare her. It's just that Russ…he gets real wound up sometimes an' we learned that…if we can shock him…if we can stop him real quick an' make him start again, sometimes it gets him…I don't know…gets him back on track or some shit like that."

Carol nodded and reached her hand, patting Daryl on the leg.

"It's OK, you didn't do anything wrong," she reiterated. "I promise…she's already forgotten it."

Daryl turned his head and Carol could have sworn, though she couldn't see what he was doing for obvious reasons, that he nuzzled the side of her head. And she closed her eyes, taking in the gesture…because it was nice, and it was comfortable, and she liked it.

"I don't…I don't judge ya…ya know? On account a' ya husband," Daryl said. "My ole man…he was an asshole ta me an' Merle both when we was kids…I reckon my Ma didn't know what the hell ta do about it…maybe she ain't figured she could leave or she didn't want ta leave…I don't know…but I don't judge you 'cause he was like that. I know…shit happens with the people ya care about…or the people ya try ta care about…shit just happens an' sometimes…it's like ya don't even know 'em…"

Carol felt sensation of sadness flow over her at the thought that Daryl had suffered abuse at the hands of his father…because when she thought about what Daryl might have been like when he was young, she could only imagine Russ…and she could only imagine the cruelty that it would take in a human being to mistreat a child like that.

Carol sat up then, looking at Daryl. He didn't look particularly upset by the confession…it was obvious that he'd made some kind of peace with it…that it was just facts that he was reciting about his life now as simply as if he were telling her what he'd worn for Halloween each year.

"I'm sorry," she said. She shook her head. "You shouldn't have had to go through that…and…I don't know…it's different when it's your parent…it's not your fault."

Daryl stared at her hard enough for a moment that she got the urge to drag her eyes away from his…unnerved by the hard look. He swallowed audibly.

"Ain't your fault neither," he said. "Don't matter who it is…still a case a' some damn body ya trusted not ta be an asshole turnin' out ta be just that…don't reckon it's nobody's fault they end up trustin' the wrong damn people…nobody's fault 'cept the person ain't knowed how the hell ta be decent."

Carol bit her lip for a moment and then she closed the distance between them, bringing her lips to his in a kiss that must have surprised him. After a second, he responded, deepening the kiss and then he shifted enough on the couch that it made the interaction easier for her…easier for both of them.

Carol brought her hands to his neck, sliding her fingers into his hair and she felt him dragging his hands across her back, searching out all the space there in a sweeping motion.

She had almost made up her mind that she wasn't going to do anything with him…that she couldn't…that it was too soon and he wouldn't respect her if she went to bed with him. But it felt like, in a matter of minutes, she'd lost all resolve that she had and she moved into him with as much as enthusiasm, if not more, than he showed.

And by the time that they finally broke away, both panting, his mouth dipping in and sucking at her neck that she exposed for him by tipping her head back, she was pretty sure that neither of them had any intention of stopping this…but she tried to bring herself around to thinking clearly again and tipped her head back up, stilling him by reaching her hands up and catching his face.

"What about the kids, Daryl?" She asked.

He looked at her, glanced on the floor where Sophia was sleeping, oblivious to the fact that her mother was acting like a hormonal teenager on the couch, and then flicked his eyes back to look at Carol.

"We can go to my room," he said with a chuckle. "Russ…he comes in there…but he knocks first…trained him ta do that after he walked in on Andrea an' Merle one time…Sophia? She get up?"

Carol nodded.

"Sometimes…" she admitted.

"We leave the door cracked…I reckon…so we can hear what's goin' on?" Daryl asked.

And Carol almost laughed to herself because it didn't feel so sexy to have to have such a serious conversation about things…but it was something that needed to be covered.

"I don't know…" Carol said. "What's Russ going to say tomorrow?"

"Kid know about sleepin' over an' that's all the hell he's gotta know," Daryl said matter of factly, almost making Carol laugh.

Carol bit her lip.

"It's really soon…" Carol said. "I don't want you to think…less of me…"

"'Cause you doin' somethin' we both involved in? Or was ya gonna leave me out of it?" Daryl asked.

Carol did laugh then, and he wrapped his arms around her, his hands flat on her back, as though he thought she were going to topple off of him and end up on the floor.

"Do you have anything?" She asked. "Because I'm not on the pill…"

The look that slowly melted over Daryl's face answered the question for her and she nodded her head slightly, sliding off his lap and back onto the couch where she could straighten her clothes.

Daryl looked like his balloon had been popped. But then he raised a finger up at her.

"I will…" he said quickly and he got off the couch.

"What are you doing?" Carol asked, wrinkling her brow at him.

He turned around and smiled at her, his eyebrows raised.

"I'ma be right the hell back," Daryl said. "You stay here…with the kids…make yaself at home…have a drink…take a shower…whatever the hell it is that'cha wanna do…I'ma be back 'fore ya even miss my ass…"

Carol laughed at him.

"Are you seriously going somewhere?" She asked.

Daryl nodded.

"Damn straight I am…just stay here…don't go nowhere…" Daryl said, grabbing up his keys and going to the door.

"Where am I going?" She asked. "Am I just going to leave Russ here alone?"

Daryl chuckled.

"An' ya hold onto that thought…be back…" Daryl declared.

And before Carol could argue or say that it wasn't worth it…or even suggest that they both just hold the thought until more time had passed and they were more sure about what was even happening, Daryl had slipped out the door and left her there, sitting on the couch, with his son asleep in the next room and her daughter dreaming on the floor.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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When Daryl tried the door knob to the house and found it locked, he checked his watch again. It was late…but it wasn't that late. He banged on the door twice and waited a moment before banging again.

Merle jerked the door open.

"What the hell ya want?" Merle asked.

"Need condoms an' that travel crib thing y'all got in the hall closet," Daryl said.

Merle stared at him and then chuckled.

"D'ja think ya was at the Stop N'Save?" Merle asked. "Now what the hell ya needin' all this shit for right now…in the middle a' the damn night?"

Daryl growled. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his brother, and frankly, he didn't have the time to deal with him right now.

"Merle…damn it…can ya just get the shit? I stopped down at the store an' it's close…an' I don't wanna have ta go all the damn way into town…you ain't usin' no damn condomns no way…Andrea's 'bout as damn knocked up as a body can get…" Daryl said.

"You in a mighty big hurry can't drive the what…twenty…twenty five minutes into town?" Merle asked. "Ya lil' lady waitin' on ya ass?"

"Merle…I'm dead fuckin' serious," Daryl growled. "We got two damn kids down ta sleep right now an' they no damn tellin' how long that's gonna last…if you gon' be an asshole ta me right now I'ma make Russ sleep in the car after ya kids get here so it's easier on me ta come by ever' damn night an' wake 'em up just as soon as ya get 'em down…"

Merle laughed…having himself a hell of a time at Daryl's expense.

And Daryl was thankful when Andrea appeared behind Merle, passing a box over Merle's shoulder and into Daryl's hands.

"If this is going to be a regular thing," Andrea said. "You…uh…might want to buy some new ones…those have been in the bathroom cabinet forever."

Daryl nodded and thanked her and she elbowed Merle out of the way.

"Merle…leave him alone. You can harass him tomorrow when he's got full use of his brain," Andrea declared. "Go get the portable crib?"

"Bossin' my ass around," Merle grumbled, ducking out of the doorway and heading into the house to bring what Daryl had requested. He would grumble, but he wouldn't argue too much with Andrea. She had a free pass for just about everything until those babies came crawling out.

"So…things are going well?" Andrea asked, a smirk on her face as she switched on the porch light, calling up every moth in the state.

Daryl smirked too and shook his head.

"I don't wanna…" He muttered, meaning that he didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to deal with any more harassment.

Andrea laughed.

"It's cool…it's good," Andrea said. "Hell…I slept with Merle on our first date…and it wasn't until the second date that we decided to call what happened the first time a date."

Daryl chuckled.

And both of them stepped out of the way as Merle, still grumbling under his breath about one thing or another, passed through the door dragging the folded up item and went directly to Daryl's truck.

Daryl held the box of condoms up and nodded at Andrea, not able to control the smirk on his face and knowing full well that he hadn't heard the last of this…but he didn't care at the moment.

"Thanks…" he said.

She smiled and nodded.

"Go on…get outta here," she said. "I'm just going to stay here…make sure Merle's ready to come back inside. Once you let his ass out in the yard it can be hard to get him back in…"

Daryl chuckled, hummed a goodnight, and jogged off the porch as quickly as he'd come up it. He thanked Merle, but luckily he was able to skip hearing a response from his brother because Andrea interrupted Merle's attempt to speak by calling out to him that he better get back…now.

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Daryl cussed the portable crib more than once as he drug the thing out the back of the truck and wrestled it up the porch. He didn't know what to expect when he got inside…but he hoped that there had been no real disaster and he hoped that Carol hadn't fallen asleep or changed her mind or done anything else that might make all of this for nothing because he was giving this shit absolutely all he had…but he also knew that things had a way of just not working out the way he saw them going in his head.

Carol must have heard him because she appeared at the door and held it open.

"What is that?" She asked as he came by her, wrestling the thing inside…it wasn't heavy, but it was awkward and now Daryl understood Merle's need to grumble about it like he had.

"S'a crib…folds out…for Sophia," Daryl said. "That way I ain't gotta be like hey thanks for stayin' just drop ya kid off in the corner over there…"

Carol snickered and Daryl unfolded the thing and set it up to the side so that if Russ came barreling out of his room at any point, not paying attention, he wouldn't ram right into the thing.

"You can pick her up," Carol offered. "I'll fix the blanket in there. She's pretty good about not waking up…"

Daryl nodded at her, though he almost hated to take the risk, and picked Sophia up as gently as he could. She didn't wake up, but she did roll into him, balling up a little in his arms while he waited for Carol to get the thing ready for her. Then he eased the little girl over into the crib and put his hand on her, like he'd learned to do with Russ when he was a baby, waiting to make sure that she felt secure enough to stay asleep.

When he stepped away, Carol came over and did the customary adjusting of blankets and clothes…and she gave the little girl the stuffed mouse that had gotten dropped in the process.

Once it was done and out of the way, Daryl could feel his stomach churning over what was coming next…or what he hoped was coming next.

Because Carol was beautiful…and he had a pretty good idea she was going to be even more beautiful without clothes on…and he hadn't exactly been the most active man in a while…leaving him a little concerned at just how rusty he was going to be, if he'd ever been all that great to begin with.

"You…uh…wanna go ta my room?" Daryl asked.

Carol smiled.

"I guess so…it's getting late…time for bed," she said.

And Daryl felt his stomach flip until she blushed and her smile broadened. He chuckled and locked the door, plugging in the light in the living room socket that made a little lit runway through the house in case there were any monster emergencies, and switched the rest of the lights off, putting his hand on Carol's back and pushing her gently in the direction of his bedroom.

As soon as they got in there, he apologized for it being messy…and he apologized for not having made the bed…because he honestly hadn't thought, or he might have done something about it, that she would take him up on the offer to stay.

"It's fine," she insisted. "I don't get around to making my bed every day either…and I'm sure it'll be worse when I work too."

She sat down on his bed and Daryl pulled the smashed box of condoms, the thing that had started his whole trip out of the house, out of his pocket and tossed them on the bed.

Carol reached and picked them up and he was almost embarrassed by them. Even though she knew and he knew that he was going to get them…it still seemed somehow daunting to see her sitting there, turning the open box over in her hand.

"Where did you go?" Carol asked with something of a chuckle. "To get…an open box of condoms…and a folding crib? Where did you go?"

Daryl didn't want to admit it, but he'd been caught.

"My brother's house," he admitted.

Carol looked at him with question on her face.

"The store…down at the corner…went there first but they was closed, close at nine or nine thirty, dependin' on when Walt leaves out," Daryl explained. "An' then it was gonna be damn near half an hour ta drive into town or it was five minutes ta get ta my brother's house…an' I knew they had the crib 'cause it's been in they closet since Russ was a baby…"

Carol chuckled and shook her head.

"So your brother and your sister in law know what we're talking about doing?" Carol asked.

Daryl just looked at her because he didn't want to answer that. She already knew the answer, but verbalizing it might just make it all the more embarrassing and might make her decide to up be done with this disastrous night.

"What are they going to think?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"Reckon they ain't gon' think too damn much," Daryl said. He shook his head. "You don't know 'em yet…but they ain't…well…they don't do no real heavy judgin' a' people for what they do. You do what the hell you gonna do an' they'll do what the hell they gonna do an' long as ya ain't fuckin' with nobody…ain't no big damn deal."

Carol smiled and nodded.

She put the box on the bed and got to her feet. She came over to Daryl and it was only when she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him, that he relaxed and really realized how tense he was over the whole thing.

He kissed her, running his fingers through her hair and getting them tangled there. And she responded to the kiss, her hands running over his back as she moved her body tight against his, making him feel like he might go crazy…even crazier than before.

She broke away after a moment and he moved to reconnect them, not even wanting to give up the kiss for a moment, but she stopped him.

"Is this…just a sex thing?" Carol asked.

Daryl snorted and tried not to pull his own hair out with frustration.

"Listen…I'ma just say this flat out…so ya ain't gotta think about it no damn more," Daryl said. "I ain't been with nobody since before Russ was borned…now…I done told you ain't too many women wanna end up with a man who's got a kid at home…meanin' they don't wanna come meet ya kid…"

And Daryl almost laughed, stopping his explanation, because Carol was watching him speak with the same intensity that Russ used when he was explaining a concept to him that might be difficult for him to grasp.

"You don't reckon, though…that in the whole damn state a' Georgia…I couldn't a' found one woman desperate enough ta have just slept with my ass for a one night stand in four damn years?" Daryl finished up. "'Cause if that's what'cha think then I gotta wonder what the hell kinda charity mission you on right now…"

Carol broke into laughter then and Daryl let himself laugh too. She pulled him back to her, but still looked up at him.

"It ain't just no sex thing," Daryl said, tipping his head and requesting another kiss from her, which she granted him.

Daryl finally broke the kiss himself and reached out, taking her hand and pulling her over to the bed. His mind was about to go crazy as he ran through all his thoughts on how long it might last…if he'd be good enough…if she had expectations that he didn't know about.

And even as they both went along undressing, kisses and touching and nibbling here and there between them, Daryl couldn't entirely feel comfortable because he was worried, each step along the way, that she was going to snap out of it and tell him that this was a mistake…that she didn't want this…that she wasn't going through with anything.

When she started, then, to speak while they were undressing, launching into some kind of speech, he made it a point to tune his ears in and listen…expecting the rejection that he was already dreading.

But when it turned out to be nothing more than some kind of laundry list she was trying to recite for him…some kind of rambling list of all the things that he was apparently supposed to find wrong with her…all the reasons he was supposed to want to call this whole thing off instead of repeating over and over in his head the hope that she wouldn't be the one to that and the hope that both of the children slept just long enough…he knew nothing else to do but to cover her mouth and to choke out the ridiculous words with a kiss.

And whether or not it had been the response that she was expecting from him to her well planned speech, she had accepted it and she had gotten comfortable in the bed, tossing the covers out of the way with a flick of wrist. And she'd pulled Daryl down on top of her…a place that he didn't need much encouragement to go.

Daryl found the box of condoms that she'd tossed to the side with the slinging of the cover and put one on while she watched him, her eyes steady trained on him, and tossed the box to the floor with the wrapper.

He took as much time as he dared…touching her, kissing her, allowing her to do the same to him. Because even though he'd been with other women in the past, he always felt like the first time with each woman had been like a learning experience…this is the way that we'll fit together…this is the way that we'll do the same things that we've done before, but differently.

When he couldn't hold out any longer, though, he moved her around and joined them together and she trapped him for a moment with her arms, kissing his neck and sucking on it, before she allowed him enough freedom to move.

Both of them tried their best to keep the sounds behind their reactions to a minimum…because they didn't want to explain this to an unexpected and curious guest and they didn't want to wake Sophia. And Daryl almost lost his concentration when Carol hit her peak and went wide eyed at the same time that he felt her clench around him, her hand dragging the pillow she wasn't even on anymore to cover her face. And he dipped his own face down, biting the same pillow as he found his release.

He stayed there a moment, fighting his tired arm muscles to keep from collapsing on top of her, and she didn't move either besides the quick paced rise and fall of her chest.

But finally he pulled off of her and she moved the pillow, rising up on her elbows to look at him while he did away with the used condom.

He smiled at her and at the fact that, though she was running her fingers through it in attempt to tame it, her hair was everywhere.

"Not too bad?" He asked, coming back to the bed and leaning over her, kissing her. She panted into his mouth and pulled away smiling.

"I have to say…I'm glad I didn't leave when I thought about it," Carol said.

Daryl chuckled and kissed her again quickly.

"I'm glad ya didn't leave either…an'…uh…I don't hear nothin' comin' from the other part a' the house…we might even be lucky enough ta steal us a couple hours sleep outta this whole thing," he responded.

Carol hummed at him.

"Do you cuddle too?" She asked.

Daryl snickered.

"Let's see…I do snugglin'…an' I do nussin'…any a' that work?" He asked.

Carol laughed.

"I think we can probably make it work…I'm pretty flexible," she said.

"You really are…" Daryl teased while he went about getting them both arranged in the bed to steal whatever sleep they might be allowed.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Here you go, another chapter.**

**I have to admit. I'm stuck in fluff mode at the moment. It may change…and I may be able to fight it off…but at the moment, I cannot. I just have to go with the fluff.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol heard Sophia crying a few minutes before she was even fully awake. As she started the process of getting up in her best zombified state, she heard tapping at Daryl's doorframe.

"Daddy…Daddy…Daddy…" Russ hissed at the cracked door, his voice changing tone and octave with every call.

Carol reached to the floor and grabbed Daryl's shirt, the closest one to her, and pulled it on quickly, satisfied that it covered everything until she could get her underwear on.

Daryl was sitting up then in the bed, becoming conscious to all that was happening around him.

"Yeah…Russ…come on," he said, apparently noticing that Carol was covered at least.

Russ came in the room, picking at the fingers of one of his hands with the fingers of the other. He stared at Carol as he skirted her entirely and addressed his problem to Daryl.

"That…um…Sophia…she's crying because she can't get out," Russ said.

Daryl chuckled.

"Because she can't get out, huh?" Daryl asked.

Russ nodded.

"And she smells bad too," Russ said.

Daryl laughed again and Carol couldn't help but laugh.

"That's why she's crying," Carol said. "And, if she's been awake for more than ten minutes, she's probably wanting breakfast."

She stretched her back, knowing full well that Sophia was fine for a moment and was more prone to dramatics than anything else, and stretched her leg out to drag her underwear toward her with her foot.

"Russ…did'ja pee?" Daryl asked.

Carol glanced back to see Russ shaking his head.

"Go pee…ya know that's first thing," Daryl said.

Russ went straight into the little half bath that was connected to Daryl's bedroom and went about doing his business while Carol got up quickly and slid her underwear on.

"If you go in the bathroom…an' I shoulda told ya this before," Daryl said, rubbing at his face, "how 'bout put the toilet seat up when ya done?"

Carol looked at him strange and he laughed.

"Russ…he uh…he'll piss all over the seat if ya don't…he tried ta lift the seat one time an' some damn way he…" Daryl paused and shook his head, squeezing at his temples. "He dropped it on his dick…was kinda traumatic…put us back a long damn way in potty trainin'…"

Carol laughed.

"OK…got it…let me go let the princess know her servant is awake," Carol said. She slipped into her pants quickly, not changing out of Daryl's shirt, and made her way through the house to where Sophia was waiting on her, standing in the folding crib.

She smiled when Carol called out to her, but then she dissolved into tears again, remembering that she was supposed to be suffering greatly at the moment.

Carol got her out of the little crib, asked her if she'd slept OK, and talked to her while she was changing her…all of which calmed Sophia down a good deal so that she was content to lie there and wait to be changed…she was much more content to be changed, in fact, than she ever was to have the potty suggested to her…leaving Carol to believe this was going to be a struggle and a half for her. But all her parenting books said that Sophia would let her know when she was ready…and Carol was counting on that since Sophia usually let her know how she felt about most things.

Russ, a burning ball of energy, came running through a moment later, growling out as he ran through and Carol heard the sound of Daryl shuffling into the kitchen and declaring to Russ that it was "too damn early for that shit".

"I'm a dragon!" Russ responded, because…of course…if Daryl had known that he wouldn't have suggested any different with the growling.

Russ came over as Carol was snapping Sophia's pajamas closed again and stood to the side of where she was kneeling. Her only indication that he was there, at first, was the feeling of tiny fingers rubbing at the side of her neck. She froze, waiting to see what he was doing, but he offered no explanation beyond the petting.

"Russ…stop that…it's creepy," Daryl called.

Carol laughed because she couldn't help it, but Russ did stop and backed up a few steps. And Carol put Sophia on her feet and offered her the mouse that she'd dropped during her changing.

"You want coffee?" Daryl asked, fumbling around in the kitchen.

"Please!" Carol declared, getting up from her position and coming in there to dispose of the diaper and to wash her hands.

"I want pancakes and skinny sausage…" Russ declared coming into the kitchen. "I want…Daddy…I want…"

"Daryl was ignoring Russ, putting coffee on in the coffee maker.

"Daddy…I want pancakes…Daddy…" Russ said, tugging at Daryl's boxer shorts now while Daryl held the band of them with the one hand that he wasn't using to start coffee like an expert that had spent much of his life with only one had to spare.

"Russel," Daryl said, turning around and looking at the boy. "Ya gettin' sausage…ain't no pancakes gettin' made. Ya gettin' grits an' sausage…go find ya cartoons…an' see if Sophia likes 'em…"

Sophia had come up behind Russ and he accidentally bumped her, spilling her to the floor.

"Look out, son," Daryl said, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry…sorry…" Russ said.

Sophia seemed to care less. Instead of standing up, she simply collected her mouse and continued to sit there, right where she'd been spilled into the floor, staring at Russ when he leaned his face, almost touching hers, and whispered that he was sorry.

"She's fine, Russ," Carol said. "She's OK…she falls down a lot."

Russ looked at Carol, offered her something of a crooked smile, and stared.

"Cartoons?" Carol asked.

And he darted off, obviously having forgotten them. Daryl laughed, going through the pantry and coming out with a Tupperware container.

"Can I help?" Carol asked.

He passed her the container.

"Can you make grits?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Get on it, then…they's a pot…in that cabinet…no…other one…that one," Daryl said, directing Carol so she could put the grits on while he went to the refrigerator, probably in search of sausage.

Sophia got up then, deciding that the man with the fridge was her friend and she followed behind him, getting under his legs and proving that she'd learned nothing at all from her earlier spill.

"I eat now…" Sophia declared to Daryl as he fumbled through things in the fridge.

"Sophia…" Carol said. "Please back up…you're going to eat…"

Daryl chuckled.

"You're gonna eat," he said to Sophia. "Ya like sausage?"

Carol glanced over her shoulder at Sophia nodding her head with a satisfied look on her face.

"Ya want grits?" He asked.

Sophia nodded at him.

"Ya like liver too?" He teased.

Sophia nodded, the joke lost on her.

Daryl looked at Carol and she bit her lip not to laugh at him since he was apparently trying not to laugh at Sophia.

"Ya like any damn thing I say long as ya eatin' somethin'?" Daryl asked.

Sophia looked at him, confused, and he pinched her cheek.

"Can she have a snack ta hold her over?" Daryl asked. "Cheese stick?"

Carol nodded.

"She'd like that," Carol said. "She loves cheese."

Daryl put the pack of sausage on the counter and gave Sophia a cheese stick.

"Here," he said, handing her the one he'd unwrapped. She took it, muttered a thank you and bit it. He offered her a second one. "An' can ya take this ta Russ?"

Daryl tucked her mouse under her arm, since she was apparently having a hard time deciding how to balance everything, and offered her the other cheese stick. She took both and very slowly began to toddle toward where Russ was sitting in the living room floor, watching cartoons.

Daryl picked up the pack of sausage and came up beside Carol. He leaned and nuzzled at her face with his nose and she turned, kissing him, slowly stirring the grits while she stood there.

"An' good mornin' ta you too…" Daryl said.

Carol laughed.

"Good morning," she said. "I'm not awake yet…"

He laughed in response and went about arranging sausage links in a pan, bumping her a little so that they both could fit in front of the stove.

"I ain't never awake 'til I been up at least two hours," Daryl said. "Half the damn time Russ is at school an' I'm gettin' ta work 'fore I even realize I ain't dead."

"Skinny sausage is link sausage?" Carol asked, remembering what Russ had requested earlier.

"Yep," Daryl said. "An' flat sausage is sausage patties, but Russ don't like 'em…"

Carol chuckled.

"He likes sausage but not sausage patties?" She asked.

Daryl sucked his teeth, pushing the sausage links that rolled around the pan with the end of a pair of tongs he'd acquired from a drawer.

"One time my brother was eatin' some…an' he forgot they was the spicy kind. Let Russ have a bite an' since then Russ don't trust flat sausage…my brother is also the reason Russ don't like lemons…any kinda pepper…an' he cries when he sees mushrooms if he can tell what the hell they are…" Daryl commented.

"Mushrooms?" Carol asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"No…" Carol said. "No…I think I need to know this…why does he cry over mushrooms?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Because Merle told him they was real…well…he told him mushroom people was real…an' Russ likes mushroom people…an' then Merle was fuckin' with him one day an' told him that the mushrooms we eat is baby mushroom people…an' now I gotta figure out how the fuck ta afford therapy for the kid when he's older," Daryl said.

"That's terrible!" Carol declared. "Really! Bless his heart! Have you tried to explain to him that they're not people?"

"Tried…hell…took him out an' showed 'em growin' to him!" Daryl declared. "Don't matter…damage is done now…"

"Is my sausage ready?" Russ called from the living room.

"Not yet it ain't…but go wash ya hands…" Daryl said.

"I done washed 'em…" Russ called back.

"Go do it again," Daryl declared.

"Where are the dishes?" Carol asked. "I can set the table…or did you want to eat in the living room?"

Daryl shrugged at her.

"We can set them up at the bench if ya want…or we can eat at the table…I ain't got no chair for Sophia," Daryl responded.

"She can sit in my lap," Carol said. "I'm used to balancing her there while she eats."

"Fine," Daryl said. He reached up and flicked open the cabinet that contained the dishes, revealing them to Carol and she started setting the table, moving the stuff that he'd accumulated there, using the table more as a catch all obviously than a place to eat regularly, to the far end of it so that it wouldn't end up covered in however much food was likely to get slung around by messy eaters.

As the food finished cooking, they fell into something of a dance, bumping into each other or very nearly bumping into each other, while they got plates prepared and drinks prepared so that when they brought the children away from the cartoons they wouldn't be left trying to figure out how to simultaneously juggle children and everything else.

"It's 'bout like a damn madhouse around here," Daryl declared when he was putting the last of the plates on the table and buckling Russ's booster chair into one of the chairs that he'd designated for the boy.

Carol smiled at him.

She hated to think how much she really liked it, but she did. It was busy…yes…and there wasn't nearly enough room for both of them in the kitchen, which was bound to get more crowded as soon as they brought in Russ and Sophia and tried to actually go about eating, but it was nice too.

"I like it," she admitted.

And Daryl just offered her a sideways smile, the same kind of smile that Russ used when he wasn't attempting to show all of his teeth at one time, and nodded his head slightly.

"Guess it ain't so bad," he said, his voice barely audible, before he went into the living room to announce to the poor starving children that, after days of anticipation, their captors had finally decided to feed them.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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They weren't in the door good to join Merle and Andrea for the evening, and more than likely supper if Andrea had any mind to cook, before Merle called out from his chair and Daryl rolled his eyes for what he could already imagine was about the fiftieth time for the day. Merle hadn't harassed him at work…not today…because he was waiting to feed on the honesty of a four year old first.

"Russ…come 'ere…tell ya Uncle Merle 'bout'cha Daddy's girlfriend…" Merle called out.

"Ain't even in the damn door good…" Daryl said, pushing the door shut behind him and coming into the living room.

Russ ignored Merle, though, running straight to the kitchen because it wasn't Merle that Russ came to see. Merle was merely a fixture in the house…someone to be tolerated.

"Where's Anandrea?" Russ asked, coming back and paying attention to Merle then.

Merle held his hands out to the boy, dragging him up in the recliner with him and Daryl sat on the couch, waiting for the show to start.

"She's in the bathroom," Merle commented. "Now…tell ya Uncle Merle 'bout'cha Daddy's girlfriend…"

Russ looked at Daryl.

"Who's ya Daddy's girlfriend?" Merle prodded, shaking Russ a little.

Russ looked at Merle and then he looked back at Daryl.

"Merle…stop that shit…Russ don't know what the hell ya talkin' 'bout…" Daryl said. "It's alright, buddy…you 'member the ogres in the forest? Ya Uncle Merle's a lot like them ogres…he'll try ta lead ya ass wrong…just ignore him…"

Merle chuckled when Russ looked back at him, his mouth falling open a little.

"You mean ta tell me she ain't'cha girlfriend?" Merle asked Daryl.

"I mean ta tell ya that Russ don't call her my girlfriend," Daryl said. "But I ain't ashamed of her if that's what'cha ass is gettin' at. Russ knows her as Miss Carol an' you oughta be damn decent enough ta use her name."

The conversation might have continued from there, since Russ perked a little at the name, but it got interrupted by the entrance into the living room of the queen…also known as Andrea…and Russ lost interest in the moment with all other conversation.

"Anandrea!" Russ called out.

He would have made a great escape from Merle's lap, but Merle caught him and held him by the wrists, letting him lower himself down so that he was hanging, head down, off the side of the chair. And Russ decided it was hilarious.

"Anandrea…help...the ogre got me!" Russ got out around his squirming and his laughing and the general strain of being suspended in the position that he was in.

Andrea walked over, tickled Russ's exposed stomach and then sat down beside Daryl.

"An ogre…huh?" She asked. "That sounds about right…"

Daryl chuckled.

"You the one makin' baby ogres with him," Daryl said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"These are all me," she said. "They have nothing to do with him…"

Daryl nodded his head.

"And I had an appointment yesterday…both Tweedles look great they said," Andrea said with a smile.

Daryl smiled at her and nodded his head to confirm that he was pleased with the news and turned his attention to his laughing son who could barely breathe to make sure that Merle wasn't getting too carried away.

"We was just talkin' 'bout Daryl's lil' sweet thang," Merle said, tugging Russ back upright and into his lap. "Russ was gonna tell us all about Miss Carol…did'ja say?"

Andrea shifted, turning her attention to toward the boy who looked surprised to suddenly be the center of attention instead of the one clamoring for one or another person to look at him.

"What about Miss Carol?" Andrea asked.

Russ stared at her like he had never seen her before and like he had no idea how to address her or how to answer the question.

"What'cha think a' Miss Carol, Russ?" Daryl asked, pushing the boy to respond so that Merle would be satisfied and maybe release him to play with something or do something to entertain himself.

Russ stared at Daryl then and Daryl nodded at him, knowing that Russ was likely seeking permission to speak…he knew well enough that Merle's questions could lead him into trouble sometimes.

"She's…um…she's alright…she's got…there's Sophia an' she gets in the way," Russ said.

"Russ…that ain't nice," Daryl said.

But as soon as he said it, he realized that Russ very likely meant that Sophia literally got in the way…as in she had the uncanny ability to get right up on Russ at all times and to be between your legs if you weren't paying attention to her whereabouts.

Russ didn't seem too taken aback by Daryl's scolding though.

"How old is Sophia?" Andrea asked.

Russ looked at Daryl and he chuckled.

"Sophia is two," Daryl said.

"She's…she's just two…she's a baby," Russ said.

Merle pinched at Russ's side and Russ squirmed around, obviously kneeing him in the nuts for the expression that crossed Merle's face with the hiss that he let out.

"What else ya think about Miss Carol?" Merle asked when he regained his composure. "She pretty?"

Russ smiled at Merle and nodded his head.

"She prettier'n ya Aunt Andrea?" Merle asked.

"Don't answer that," Daryl responded. Russ jerked his head and looked at Daryl. "Ya Uncle Merle…just like them ogres…he'll lead ya wrong. Ya don't never, never answer that…ya just say they both pretty an' ya don't call no damn body fat…'cept ya Aunt Andrea."

Andrea slapped at Daryl, but he could dodge it easily enough since he knew it was coming. He'd get her goat every chance he got, though. Russ looked at Andrea then and smiled again.

"Anandrea's not fat…" he protested.

She smiled.

"And that's why I love Russ more than both of you combined," Andrea said, looking at Daryl and then at Merle.

"What the hell ya sour at me for?" Merle protested. "I ain't called ya fat! Was Daryl done that shit!"

"Is Miss Carol nice?" Andrea asked, ignoring Merle.

Russ reached his arms out to her and Merle released the boy, putting him on the floor so that he could make the trip to the couch and crawl up next to Andrea…what he'd wanted from the beginning in the first place.

"Is she nice?" Andrea repeated, once Russ was settled in.

Russ nodded his head.

"She's…she knows Alice…an' I'm gonna meet her an' she's gonna talk about her caterpillar…" Russ said.

Andrea looked at Daryl and he chuckled.

"Her roommate?" He said.

Andrea nodded her head and then her expression changed a moment later.

"Oh! Alice!" She said. "She's…her caterpillar?"

"You know, Anandrea…she has the caterpillar that lives in the mushroom land?" Russ said, his face concerned at the fact that Andrea was clearly suffering from some kind of mental disorder that was causing her to forget all of the most important things in the world.

"Oh…right," Andrea said. She laughed to herself. "I know Alice too…did you know that?"

Russ looked at her wide eyed and shook his head.

"I do," Andrea said. "I see her almost every day that I go to work. And you're going to meet her?"

Russ nodded his head, looking quite satisfied with the fake meeting that Carol had planned out for him with one of his heroes…because Hansel's journey, unbeknownst to Russ, had been born out of combining his love for Wonderland and Oz into a story about a little boy…a little boy who happened to be a lot like Russ.

"Has Miss Carol and…what's her daughter's name?" Andrea asked.

"Sophia," Daryl filled in.

"Has Miss Carol and Sophia been doing fun things with you? What did you do the other day?" Andrea asked.

Daryl knew that she knew all this information…but even if she knew it, she would still press Russ for his version of it…and Russ liked to think that Andrea and Merle got most of their information straight from his mouth.

"We went ta see Papa Hershel an' I rode Strudel but Sophia can't ride Strudel because…because…well…she's a baby and Strudel might buck her off…because Strudel's a horse and horses are for big boys…" Russ said.

Andrea bit her lip, obviously trying not to laugh and Daryl understood why. The last time Strudel had enough give a damn to buck over anything would have probably coincided in some way with the Ice Age. Daryl didn't know how old the pony was...but he was pretty damn old.

Still, to Russ he was a wild stallion…and that's all that really mattered at the end of the day.

"Well…it's a good thing that you didn't let Strudel buck her off," Andrea said. "She might have gotten hurt!"

Russ nodded his head, raising his eyebrows…because clearly this was what would have happened if Strudel had bucked her off…what with all the bucking that the pony did.

"He would have…and she'da broke her head…" Russ said, matter of factly.

"What else did you do? Just ride Strudel all day?" Andrea asked.

Daryl nodded.

"That's damn near what he done," Daryl said.

Because Strudel wandered around the yard like a lazy dog and had little concern if Russ wanted to come along for the ride.

"What'd the lil' girl do?" Merle asked, more to Daryl than to Russ, but Russ wasn't giving up his spotlight.

"She…she just played with the lil' animals," Russ said. "She just…she played with the little ones…the ones that Papa Hershel catches…she…she liked the rabbits…but she had to take a nap because babies take naps but I didn't have to take a nap…because I was…I was riding Strudel and I didn't take a nap and I wasn't even sleepy…"

Merle furrowed his brow and nodded at Russ.

"D'ja sleep all night after that?" Merle asked.

Russ nodded his head.

"Yeah…I did…I slept but I would have slept more but Sophia didn't want to sleep and she wouldn't let me sleep…so I had to get up with her," Russ insisted.

Daryl caught the look from both of them…not over the fact that Sophia was at the house…his impromptu request for the crib would have indicated that clearly enough…but for clarification on Russ's baby tending requirements.

"He's a damn good babysitter," Daryl said with a smirk. "Come all the way ta my room ta tell me that Sophia was awake an' cryin'."

And both of them looked amused.

"So Sophia had a sleep over with you?" Andrea asked.

Russ nodded.

"An' Miss Carol…she had a sleep over with Daddy…" Russ said. "An' Sophia an' me watched cartoons…an' Daddy lets Sophia eat ketchup with her fingers…an' then I got to play in the sandbox with Sophia…but she's bad at building stuff an' she wrecks my castles 'cause she's a baby…an' Miss Jo says it's 'cause babies don't understand 'portant stuff like castles."

Merle was grinning at Daryl and Daryl did his best to ignore entirely his brother's presence. Merle hadn't given him the hard time at work that he'd expected today…but now he had the confession…straight from Russ's mouth…and Daryl could only imagine how much fun Merle was going to have harassing him when he got the opportunity and didn't have to worry about Andrea chiding him or Russ repeating it back and causing more chiding from Andrea.

"Sleep overs are fun..." Merle said. "Ain't they…Daryl?"

Daryl rolled his eyes at Merle, but he couldn't help but smirk.

"I reckon they alright…" Daryl said. "Russ likes havin' sleepovers."

"With my Anandrea!" Russ commented.

Merle chuckled.

"Got me a sneakin' suspicion Russ an' Andrea's sleepovers mighta gone a lil' damn different than your'n did…" Merle said.

"On account a' Sophia was there too," Daryl said quickly, watching Russ look back and forth between them.

"Yeah…" Merle said with a chuckle. "That's what the hell I was talkin' 'bout…"


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I'm updating when I can and where the muse takes me…life has gotten pretty busy right this minute (and will likely remain so for a while) so I'm not pushing unless it's just there. I'll update this and everything else as it comes to me! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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_So while they walkin' along…followin' the path that turned, like the Good Queen told 'em it would…from dirt ta big ole stones…and it went runnin' through the clear land now that they was comin' right on outta the woods…they seen the lil' house look just like a hollow in a tree…just like they was lookin' for…an' Hansel, he walked on up ta the door an' he knocked at the lil' door…three times…an' they waited for it ta open._

"_How did the house get in a tree?" Russ asked. _

"_S'a fairy's house…they can build 'em where they want," Daryl said. "Hollowed out trees are good for fairy houses…already space an' everything just for 'em…" _

"_Is it like a tree house? Like the tree house that you said I was gonna get?" Russ asked._

"_No…tree house I'm buildin' you's gonna be a house in a tree…well…gonna be a house in the branches of a tree…this is…like them holes ya see in the trees that I tell ya don't stick ya hands in?" Daryl responded._

_Russ nodded, twisting Smucker's ear in his fingers._

"_It's like them holes…but it's a house in one a' them holes…for the Fairy Queen…" Daryl said. _

"_Do fairies live in all the trees with holes?" Russ asked._

_Daryl chuckled and shook his head._

"_Not all the trees…no…just the special ones…an' this one here is a special fairy, 'member?" Daryl said. "Don't stick ya fingers in the holes no way…ya don't wanna get bit…by bugs nor fairies…" _

"_Fairies bite?" Russ asked._

_Daryl chuckled and nodded his head._

"_Hell yeah they bite!" He responded. "'Specially an' they don't want'cha stickin' ya fingers in they houses…now can we get on with it?" _

_Russ nodded and crossed his leg over his knee, bobbing his foot. Daryl eyed him to make sure that he wasn't getting more wound up than that, and satisfied that the boy was ready to listen again, he continued on. _

_So the Fairy Queen…see…she hears the knockin' but she knows that Hansel an' the hunter…they comin' 'cause she knows everythin' an' all the magical people…they talk ta one another with they special magic talk…so she comes on outta her house an' she says ta Hansel…says she's been expectin' him an' that he's on the edge…_

"_What's the Fairy Queen look like?" Russ asked._

"_She's pretty…lil' bitty thing…real pretty…all dressed up in blue," Daryl said. _

"_Like Anandrea?" Russ asked._

_Daryl chuckled._

"_Russ…one a' these damn days ya gon' realize that'cha Aunt Andrea ain't the only pretty woman in the world…" Daryl said. "Looks like…Carol." _

"_How big is the fairies? They…are they…like bugs?" Russ asked._

_Daryl sucked his teeth._

"_Like bugs…but they ain't like lil' damn bugs…like butterflies…with wings an' all…" Daryl said. "But they can grow up ta human size if they gotta mind ta do it."_

"_Anandrea says you can't touch a butterfly…touch its wings…because it'll hurt'em…" Russ responded._

"_Right…don't touch butterfly wings…you'll hurt 'em," Daryl responded._

"_If Hansel touches…if he wanted to hold the Fairy Queen…if he did…would it hurt her?" Russ asked._

_Daryl chewed his lip._

"_Hansel might hurt her if he tried ta pick her up an' she ain't been expectin' it," Daryl said. "But if she wants ta sit on him or somethin'…don't reckon it'd hurt her. But Hansel ain't goin' grabbin' at the Fairy Queen because that shit'd be rude, Russ…ya don't grab no one without they permission…fairy or not." _

"_Is Miss Carol a fairy?" Russ asked, putting his foot down and starting to sit up. Daryl pushed him back down and held him until he realized that he was trapped indefinitely. _

"_She big as a butterfly?" Daryl asked._

_Russ shook his head._

"_Then I don't reckon she's no fairy…" Daryl responded._

"_You said she could grow up…that she could be big…is she growed up to be big?" Russ asked._

_Daryl chuckled._

"_I don't think Miss Carol's a fairy, Russ," Daryl said. "Don't think they can come on outta magic lands…now ya gon' listen or we done for the night?" _

_Russ fell quiet…at least for the moment, but Daryl could tell that his mind was working._

_So she says…ta Hansel…she says he's come ta the edge a' the forest an' from there he'll be goin' on into the land a' glass._

"_Glass?" Russ asked._

_Daryl nodded._

"_Glass…" Daryl responded._

_The Fairy Queen tells Russ that he's come ta the edge a' the land a' glass…an' he's gotta go real easy the whole time he's travelin' 'cause everything he sees…everythin' that there is ta see…it's made outta glass. The people…the animals…even the rocks an' the trees…ain't nothin' more than magical stuff made outta stained glass…_

"_We seed a glass girl before on the road," Russ said._

"_Hansel seen the glass girl," Daryl said. "But 'member? She weren't in her home…just like Hansel she was tryin' ta get where she was goin'…" _

"_Is the land a' glass her home?" Russ asked._

"_Reckon so," Daryl said. _

"_Did she make it home?" Russ asked._

"_Ya gon' have ta find out, aint'cha?" Daryl asked. _

When Russ made a face at not having his question answered and started to stir again, Daryl figured it was enough of the story for one night. Russ, especially when they met new people and entered into new worlds, couldn't take but so much in one sitting or else he'd be up all night worrying about one detail or another…and often they were details that Daryl even forgot that he'd thrown in there.

Like he hadn't exactly meant for Carol to be the Fairy Queen…and he hadn't remembered the glass girl with whose whereabouts Russ was now concerned.

It was fine, though…he'd work it out. So far he hadn't gotten into any pickle in the wondrous trip of Hansel that he hadn't been able to find some way out of.

"Alright…let's go ta bed…more tomorrow night…can't tell ya the whole damn story in one night," Daryl said, rolling out of the bed and onto the floor to work his joints enough to get up. He'd long ago discovered that it was the easiest thing to do since getting directly up from Russ's short bed after lying there for a while was almost impossible.

Russ seemed to accept the suggestion that the story was over and he started to get up too.

"What'cha doin'?" Daryl asked.

"Potty," Russ said.

Daryl nodded at him and let the little boy slip out of the room, pleased at least that he was volunteering to do his business so that Daryl didn't forget and end up having to change the sheets again.

When Russ came back, he sat on the edge of the bed, facing Daryl who still hadn't wrestled his way up from the floor, his face caught up in concern…probably over the little glass girl that was lost in magic land.

"Get in bed…" Daryl said.

"Now hold on…" Russ said with such a serious tone that Daryl had to bite the inside of his mouth with a great deal of force to keep from laughing.

"What?" He asked, trying not to give away the fact that he was dying to laugh at Russ's tone of voice coupled with his facial expression.

Russ furrowed his brows a little deeper and brought Smuckers around into his lap to pick at the poor bear's ears while he worked through the issue that, if not dealt with well enough, would likely bring him to Daryl's bed later.

"Is Miss Carol a fairy?" Russ asked in complete seriousness.

Daryl closed his eyes a moment and then shook his head.

"She ain't no fairy…Fairy Queen just looks like her…just like ya Uncle Merle ain't no real ogre…but he looks like one an' he kinda acts like one," Daryl said.

Russ didn't look convinced.

"But…she might…she could be a fairy all growed up…" Russ protested. He tipped his head to the side. "How you know she ain't a fairy?"

Daryl snorted.

"She ain't got wings…" Daryl said.

Russ nodded his head a little but didn't unfurrow his brows.

"What if…but…they could be…if…" Russ started.

And Daryl could tell that he'd tangled himself up in this one so he reached out and shook his shoulder a little.

"Take a breath…start again," Daryl said with a chuckle. "Slow like…"

"What if someone squeezed her when she was a butterfly…when she was…little…what if they squeezed her and she's got wings but they got broked like the butterflies?" Russ asked.

Daryl nodded his head as though this were a very serious thing to consider…that Carol had once been a butterfly…or relatively the same thing…and someone had crushed her wings…leaving her without them…and then he raised his eyebrows at Russ.

"Could be…but…she ain't got no wings," Daryl said. He shrugged. "Broke or not broke…she just ain't got none. Sorry, buddy, she ain't a fairy."

"You don't know! She might have wings!" Russ protested.

"Calm down…time for bed…she ain't got no wings, Russ. I know she ain't got no wings…OK? She ain't no fairy…she just looks like one…no wings…none…" Daryl said. "Now…can you get in bed? Please…right now?"

Russ looked pouty.

And normally Daryl would have thought it was over the fact that he had to go to bed, but right now he got the distinct feeling that Russ was, more than anything, crushed that Carol was not a living, breathing fairy that he could maybe convince to shrink down to butterfly size so that he could make a toy out of her.

But Russ got in bed like he was supposed to, hugging his bear, and Daryl adjusted his blankets around him, coming up on his knees so it was easier to lean near the boy.

"Russ…stop frettin', OK?" Daryl asked.

"But how do you know?" Russ asked.

"'Cause," Daryl said. He paused a moment. "'Cause I was worried too, ya know? I was thinkin' she might be too…on account a' I knowed what the Fairy Queen looked like…so I looked…an' I know she ain't got no wings…just looks a whole damn lot like her…that's all. But they ain't no wings. I promise. Miss Carol ain't no fairy."

"If she was a fairy," Russ said, "we could make her a house in a jar like my snake that Anandrea got me…"

Daryl shook his head.

"Was ya Uncle Merle caught that snake…an' ya 'member what happened ta him? He got sick an' we had ta let him out…'cause can't nothin' live in no jar an' not get sick…Miss Carol ain't no fairy…but if she was…would'ja wanna put her in a jar ta get sick like the snake?" Daryl asked, resting his chin on his folded hands next to Russ since he had no idea when he was actually going to satisfy the boy enough to get him to sleep.

Russ looked like he was considering Carol's possible entrapment in a glass prison, but finally he shook his head. Merle had caught him a garden snake to play with, but when Russ had pitched a fit about keeping it, Merle and Andrea had let him keep it a couple of days in a jar at their house…and by the time that Daryl got ahold of the thing it was dead.

He hadn't had the heart to tell the boy that it was his first act of homicide, though, so he'd said it was sick and let Russ throw it a going away party in the back yard…putting it under a bush so that it could go back to its home and get well. Then Daryl had snuck out there later and disposed of the little dead snake so that Russ would believe that he'd recovered…and since then Daryl had forbidden all creepy crawly pets.

"No…" Russ said. "But I'd like ta see a fairy…" he said remorsefully.

Daryl smiled.

"Maybe one day…ya will…" Daryl offered. "Just gotta keep ya eyes open…never know what'cha gonna see."

Daryl got to his feet then, stretching out his muscles as he found his full height again.

"Can ya sleep now? Maybe have some dreams about real fairies?" Daryl asked.

Russ nodded his head slightly and Daryl leaned and kissed him on the forehead before he ruffled his hair.

"Night buddy," he said. "Sleep good."

"Night, Daddy…" Russ said. "Love you."

Daryl smiled.

"I love ya too, Russ," Daryl said. "Ya see any fairies in ya dream…don't put 'em in no jars, OK? That ain't nice…"

Russ shook his head, looking serious for the moment.

"I won't, Daddy…and I ain't gonna grab 'em…I won't hurt them…just look at them," Russ confirmed.

Daryl bit his lip again.

"Good deal…" Daryl said. "Night, Russ…"

He switched off Russ's light and left the little boy to his fairy ridden dreams while he went around the house and cleaned up the aftermath of the day, laughing a little to himself over Russ's concern about the fairies…and then trying to figure out where the hell they'd left the little glass girl and where they'd run into her again so she could tell Hansel her story about how she found her way home.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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When Carol came in the door, it took her a moment to take in the complete state of destruction that was Alice's living room. She wasn't sure, even though Sophia was two years old, how it had gone from what it was when she'd left to what it was now.

What was even more alarming was that Alice was lying, face down, on the floor with Sophia sitting on her back.

Carol put her purse down and tossed her keys on the table near the door, a move she'd regret when she couldn't find them later, and the clanking noise they made was apparently unpleasant to Sophia because she turned quickly from what she was doing and looked at Carol like she was torn between wanting to cry over the keys and get excited because Carol was home.

She opted for something in between and abandoned Alice, running at Carol with her arms outstretched and Carol bent down to pick her up.

Alice moved then, the first indication that she wasn't actually a dead body, and sat up…bows and clips of every kind all over head, her hair sticking out and up in every possible direction.

Carol snorted, looking around for a box of tissue to wipe Sophia's face because evidently the girl had recently been crying and her face was wet and snotty.

"What happened to you?" Carol asked.

Alice frowned at her from her spot, now resting on her elbows.

"Are you talking about my designer, one of a kind, free hairstyle?" Alice asked. "Because I know you're not talking about that…I'm puddy Addie now…and you're jealous because you'll never be puddy Addie."

Carol chuckled.

"Soph, did you do Alice's hair?" Carol asked.

But Sophia didn't want to talk to her, she just wanted to slam her head into her and then start to whine because the impact she'd made with Carol's collarbone, a move that hadn't been pleasant for Carol, had hurt more than Sophia had intended it to hurt her.

"She doesn't feel good?" Carol asked Alice, reaching her hand up see if Sophia had a fever.

Sophia wasn't regularly fussy, but like any child, she had her moments.

Alice shook her head.

"I don't know…I don't think she's sick," Alice said. "She got upset not long after you left…starting looking for you…and then when she realized you were gone it was a series of upset moments that led to skipping nap…which led to not finishing lunch and not eating her snack…"

"So she's tired and she's hungry?" Carol asked.

That would do it for Sophia. Missing a meal was enough to throw Sophia directly from angel child to demon spawn. Missing a nap was the same. Missing both…that was a recipe for disaster or world domination…depending on which direction you were leaning in.

Alice nodded.

"But she won't let me help her…she screams and cries every time I move off the floor," Alice said. "So I've been here…in this position…for at least an hour."

Carol laughed and shook her head.

"Baby…did you give Alice a hard time today?" Carol asked.

Sophia had stopped crying now, but her face clearly indicated that this was temporary and that she could start again as soon as she wished.

"You want a snack? You hungry?" Carol asked.

Sophia whined out a no and shook her head adamantly, but Carol knew it was a lie…or maybe she didn't feel like eating simply because she'd worked herself so deep into the pits of "nothing will ever be right again" that food didn't sound like it would solve any of her problems.

"OK, let's get a snack," Carol said, ignoring Sophia's insistence that a snack could do nothing for her pathetic situation in life.

She burrowed around, still holding the girl, and found her phone to return the call to Daryl that she'd missed earlier and dialed the number with her thumb before she started toward the kitchen with Sophia…Alice apparently giving up on life as well…to get something for the girl to eat.

"I hold you! I hold you!" Sophia protested.

"Sophia…I'm holding you," Carol responded, listening to the ringing on the phone. "The only way I could hold you more would be to eat you…"

"What the hell?" Carol heard Daryl's voice respond and she stopped, not realizing that he'd picked up. Then she laughed, not knowing what he'd heard…or what it might sound like if he didn't know she was dealing with a two year old who was feeling impossible.

"Sophia…I was talking to Sophia," Carol said. "You called me?"

"Yeah," Daryl responded. "Why you gonna eat the kid?" Daryl asked with a laugh.

"She's fussy," Carol said. "No nap and missed food…I had that class today? The thing I told you about…with the introductions into…I don't even know…everything?"

"Yeah…that was today?" Daryl responded.

"Well…" Carol said, looking through the fridge and trying to figure out what might most attract Sophia's attention as the little girl clung to her, like a spider monkey, and awaited her to work whatever magic it was that children believed their mothers possessed. "You want cheese?"

"What?" Daryl asked.

Sophia shook her head and scrubbed snot across Carol's shoulder…probably on purpose.

"Not you…Sophia…" Carol responded. "Yes…the first of the classes was today but there are others…I have like a week of things that I have to do before we have to actually start getting the classrooms ready and getting…set up…for students. Grapes?"

This time Daryl realized that the food questions were not for him. They didn't fall into the category of information that she was trying to convey to him.

And Sophia didn't want grapes either…the problem, of course, being that at the moment she was also looking tired. She was caught up in the spiral of needing to eat and needing to sleep…but wanting to do neither.

"Milk it is," Carol said, tugging the jug out of the refrigerator. She didn't let Sophia drink all the milk she wanted, because Sophia loved milk, but she would give in and give her a sippy cup right now…since it was likely to be the only thing that would win her over and quell the hunger enough to make Sophia decide she could sit down and make a decision about what she was willing to actually eat.

"Why don't'cha come over here?" Daryl asked.

Carol precariously balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear and set about trying to make a sippy cup of milk with one hand.

"Daryl…I'm tired…and Sophia's…you don't know how she is when she's ill…if I can get her to eat she's going to eat and probably pass out before long…" Carol said.

"You done got somethin' for her ta eat? 'Cause we havin' pigs in the blanket…an' we havin' asparagus," Daryl responded.

"You make asparagus?" Carol asked.

"I make a lotta shit'cha don't know about…ya comin'? Need ta know how many hot dogs I need…" Daryl said.

Carol continued her juggling act and finally got the lid on the sippy cup, though she almost dropped the phone twice in the process. She passed the cup to Sophia and Sophia rested her head against her while she sucked at it.

"Sophia's really cranky…" Carol said.

Daryl laughed on the other end.

"You right…first damn time I ever seen a kid have a bad day…might just be too damn much for my ass," Daryl said. "You ain't even asked me how damn much fun I had today."

Carol chuckled, realizing that she hadn't bothered to ask him how his day had been.

"I think you should go," Alice called from the living room. "I think Sophia would like it if you went…"

"Shut up!" Carol responded back.

"Wow!" Daryl commented on the phone.

"That wasn't to you," Carol said quickly. "That was to…Alice…she's…nothing…anyway, how was your day?"

Daryl sighed on the other end.

"Well…let's see here…got a letter from Russ's school…he's movin' up ta the big kindergarten next year…so I had ta get his medical records updated," Daryl said. "Took off work ta do that halfway through the day…they stuck his finger an' he had ta get three shots…I'ma let you just decide what the hell kinda fun that was for both a' us…then I had ta drive him over ta the hospital…which is all the way 'cross town from his pediatrician…'cause he had ta see Andrea an' she was workin'…an' now I'm makin' pigs in the blanket an' asparagus 'cause that's what he wants…an' he won't let me take his bandaids off…screams if I get near 'em."

Carol couldn't help but laugh. She leaned against the kitchen counter, brushing Sophia's hair out of her face where it had dried into the tears and snot that was evidence of the kind of day that she'd had.

"Bless his heart…why won't he let you touch the bandaids?" Carol asked.

"Thinks it's gonna hurt ta get'em off…" Daryl said. "Don't believe me when I tell him it'll hurt worse if he leaves 'em on there a long time."

Carol hummed her sympathies for Russ…who couldn't hear her…wherever he might be at the moment.

"So you comin'?" Daryl asked.

Carol sighed.

"You got dinner fixed already?" Daryl asked.

"I already said I don't," Carol responded.

"Well then?" Daryl said. "Got a brand new dinosaur movie…don't know if Sophia likes dinosaurs…but they ain't the scary kind…an' Russ is itchin' ta watch it. We can put it on an' put they asses at the lil' table ta eat…let 'em be miserable together…"

Carol smiled to herself.

"You're not giving in on this, are you?" Carol asked.

"I've learned a lot from my kid," Daryl said.

Carol laughed and Sophia scolded her…because apparently laughing messed up the taste of cold milk which was best served over bitterness and anger.

"I just don't want to bring…attitude…into your evening…and Russ might not…" Carol didn't get to finish because Daryl cut her off.

"OK…lemme go at this another way," Daryl said. "I'm puttin' the food on in about five minutes…I'll give ya ten if ya wanna change clothes or somethin'…an' you should come over here. 'Cause Russ ain't gonna care if Sophia's ill as shit 'cause misery loves company. They gon' watch they movie…eat…she'll pass out…he ain't gon' be long for this world 'cause he's wore himself out with worryin' over everythin' today…so ain't nothin' but a thing."

Carol laughed.

"OK…" she said.

"OK?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah…I'm not going to change…can I change there? When Sophia's…eating or something?" Carol asked.

If she was going to take Sophia anywhere she'd rather just put the girl in the car now, a little soothed by her milk, and make the transfer. If she put her down to try to change her clothes, then Sophia would just get worked up again and then she'd get even more worked up over the car ride. It would just add an unnecessary layer of bad mood to the situation.

Daryl chuckled on the other end of the line.

"You can change here…shower here…do whatever the hell it is ya wanna do," Daryl said. "But come on…I don't wanna put off feedin' Russ an' startin' the movie too long."

Carol nodded, even though she was on the phone and he would never know that she was nodding…nor that she was pretty sure she was wearing a ridiculous smile on her face.

"I'm on my way," she said. "And I'm bringing the terror with me…so you better be prepared."

Daryl laughed.

"Oh…I'll see ya terror an' raise ya a whiny fit over some band aids," Daryl said. "See ya in a bit…"

"See ya," Carol said, biting her lip as she hung up the phone and walked back into the living room to slip it into her purse.

"You're going?" Alice asked, she was sitting on the floor, picking the hair clips and rubber bands out of her hair…a task that would likely take her some time.

"Yeah…he asked me to come for dinner…so…I'm going to take Sophia over there," Carol said. "You don't mind?"

"Nooo…nooo…you go! Have a great time! You should stay the night…you should pack work clothes for tomorrow…" Alice responded.

"Did Sophia scare you away from childcare?" Carol asked with a laugh as she reached and ran her fingers through Sophia's hair…the girl calm for the moment and simply leaning against Carol, her sippy cup hanging in her mouth though she wasn't actually drinking from it at the moment.

"Let's put it this way," Alice said. "I'm really happy that I'm working at the hospital tomorrow."

Carol laughed.

"Take your night off…" Carol said. "You've done well…you deserve a break."

"So you're staying the night?" Alice asked.

Carol smiled and shrugged a little.

"I'll take my clothes and things…just in case…" she said.

Alice started to get up off the floor.

"Where are you going?" Carol asked.

Alice grinned at her with the evil grin that had always indicated to Carol that Alice was up to something.

"I'm going to help you pack…since you're holding the…sweet, sweet, angelic little pudgywudget...it'll be quicker if you've got my help," Alice said. "And there's a bottle of wine in the fridge and a copy of _Terms of Endearment_ with my name on it."

Carol shook her head, but she followed Alice back toward her room…because even if Alice was teasing her, it was true. It would be a lot quicker to pack if she had the help...and she didn't suppose that pigs in the blanket took all that long to cook.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter here. **

**I'm putting this on whatever I get out today story wise, but I have guests coming tomorrow (in addition to my normal work) and that means that I will likely not be writing much, if anything, until at least Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I just wanted you to know that I've abandoned nothing…just not sure that anything will get written during that time frame.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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When Carol wrestled her way into the door with Sophia, the little girl was on the verge of a meltdown. Her sippy cup had run out of milk on the short drive over and on top of everything else she had suffered…that was the last straw.

"Sorry!" Daryl called out when the door slammed behind Carol and she got inside, dropping the bag onto the floor. "Meant ta get the door…got caught up…"

He was manning the preparation of food and it smelled good to Carol, no matter how simple it was. She'd eaten only the food provided for them at work today for lunch, and that was long gone.

She balanced Sophia on her hip and wrestled the sippy cup out of her hand.

"Do you happen to have milk?" She asked.

"Fridge…hold on…I'll get it," Daryl said from where he was fixing plates.

"I've got it…Sophia ran out and she's on the verge of losing her mind now," Carol said, somewhat apologetically that her entrance to the house had come with such a loud disruption of everything.

"Why she crying?" Russ asked from where he was sitting at his little table, already in pajamas and obviously prepared for his meal and his promised dinosaur movie.

"She's hungry and she's tired," Carol responded.

Daryl came over, holding out his finger with something on it and he unexpectedly brushed it across Sophia's lips like he was applying lip balm. She licked it off, still sobbing, but then she stilled her crying to some degree and looked at him.

Daryl laughed.

"Like that?" He asked.

Sophia nodded and reached her arms toward him.

Carol raised her eyebrows at him and Sophia both, but when he reached to take her and she went toward him, Carol allowed the switch to take place without a second thought.

"What are we doing to get plates ready?" Carol asked.

"The kids is all set," Daryl said. "I just got through makin' the dressin' for 'em…that's what I give her."

"Dressing?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled and went, picking up a plate of food that he'd fixed. Sophia dove for it, but he held it out of her reach.

"Yours is comin' this is Russ's…ya Ma's gotta cut'cha hot dog up," Daryl said.

Carol took that as her now assigned job and started cutting up the crescent roll wrapped hot dog with the knife that was lying on the counter near the plate.

"Dressin'," Daryl said, as he came back from having delivered Russ's plate, "is what we call it 'round here but it ain't nothin' but a lil' bit a' ketchup, mayonnaise, an' mustard all mixed together. Russ likes it on hotdogs."

"Apparently Sophia does too," Carol said, moving to cut the asparagus spears into bite sized pieces as well, reducing Sophia's need to tear at them with her teeth since she wasn't that great at the whole "bite it" concept and went straight for the "put the entire thing in your mouth without thinking about it" method instead.

She passed the plate to Daryl and Sophia reached for it again so he let her take something off of it to cram into her mouth on the long trip all the way to the little table where he put her plate and then put her down…on the opposite end from Russ.

"We're putting them all the way away from one another?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"Figured this way there wouldn't be no grabbin' or touchin' or pokin' or any damn thing else they liable ta do with the moods we got goin' on," Daryl said.

"What does Russ drink?" Carol asked.

"Russ…Russ…RUSS!" Daryl called, trying to get the attention of the little boy who was caught up very seriously in what appeared to be a mop commercial. Russ jerked his head in Daryl's direction at the same time as Sophia who was already covered in the "dressing" that Daryl had made and had her mouth packed dangerously full…so that Carol knew she had to keep an eye on her or else she'd be forced to drag all the extra food out of her mouth to let her swallow.

"Sophia! That's enough in your mouth. Eat that first…eat it first," Carol scolded from where she was screwing the lid on the sippy cup.

Sophia looked at her defiantly and put the piece of asparagus she had in her hand in her mouth with everything else, effectively gagging herself.

And as Carol started over there to try to get control of this before gagging turned into throwing up, she was surprised to see Daryl holding out the paper towel in front of her to grab as she went.

"What'cha wanna drink, Russ?" Daryl asked.

"Umm…she put…she had too much in her mouth an' now she's…" Russ was focused on what was happening with Carol and Sophia. He'd abandoned his plate to walk around them, trying to figure out what was taking place. "You shouldn't do that…one bite…and then you swallow that for more bites…you don't put all the bites in at once…"

Carol nodded her head.

Sophia's mouth was fairly clear now, though she was struggling against Carol's body hold and almost choking on what she did have in her mouth for all the effort she was putting into protesting against what was being done to her.

"You're right, Russ," Carol said. She let Sophia gain her feet again. "Soph…slow down, no one's taking it away from you. A little bit at a time or I'm going to feed you and then you've got to wait on me…"

Sophia gave her something of an evil eye…Carol was used to seeing it, but she didn't talk back. She simply chewed through what Carol had allowed her to keep in her mouth.

Carol got up with a sigh and took the napkin of half chewed food to throw out, meeting Daryl on his way with the sippy cup for Sophia and a cup for Russ.

"Gettin' milk too," Daryl said, giving the cup to Russ who went back over to his food. "Prob'ly need it anyway…"

"I don't…I'm not gonna put all my food in my mouth like Sophia was doin'…that's not how you're…it's…you're not s'posed ta do it that way…are ya? You're not s'posed ta…" Russ started, informing Daryl of what had been happening in case he'd missed the hullaballoo.

"You're not supposed to...that's right," Daryl said. "But sometimes little kids do that…you did it a lot."

Daryl turned and looked at Carol who was bringing in food for them, resting the plates on the couch cushions.

"When Russ was…prob'ly 'bout Sophia's age…took him to a fair…an' he damn near tried ta swallow a corn dog whole…was just me an' my brother there…an' it was Andrea knowed how ta do the thing where you get 'em ta spit out the food," Daryl said, making his way to sit down with a sigh on the couch.

He paused in his storyto rearranged himself and his plate.

"The Heimlich?" Carol asked.

He nodded.

"Yeah…so we didn't know how ta do it…she made us take classes when we told her what happened…an' he was chokin' on this shit 'cause it weren't chewed up none at all…" Daryl said. He stopped and laughed to himself, shaking his head. "So Merle, my brother…he holds Russ upside down by his feet…while I had ta go in an' dig the thing out his mouth with my fingers so he didn't choke on it."

"Oh wow!" Carol exclaimed. "But it worked?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Well…he ain't dead," Daryl said.

Carol laughed and nodded her head.

"Weren't two weeks after that Andrea had our asses in class for that shit…said it was better ta know it an' not need it than need it an' not know it…" Daryl said.

The conversation might have continued, but all of a sudden there was a sharp cry from Russ and he dissolved into a pitiful puddle of tears that surprised Carol to the point she almost choked on her own food. And Sophia…apparently deciding that she too needed to cry simply because there was unhappiness in the world, dissolved into tears.

"What?" Carol asked, wide eyed. "What happened?"

Daryl shook his head, looking equally confused.

"Russ! What the hell?" He asked, moving his plate out of his way in case he needed to get up to solve whatever the problem was. "Ya bite'cha tongue or somethin'?"

"Noooo…" Russ got out through his crying. "You said…" but he paused and had to let the problem, whatever it was, simmer a little longer through tears.

Carol almost laughed at Sophia who, having absolutely no idea why she was crying at this point, had eased herself down to lie in an awkward position on the floor, biting at the food caught in one of her firsts, while she made a noise that no longer even resembled crying.

"I said what?" Daryl asked, trying to get Russ to stop crying. "If ya tell me what's wrong…they's a damn good chance I can fix it…"

"You said we was gonna…I wanna watch my moooobeeeee…" Russ let loose with the worst part of the wail then and Carol only then even remembered the movie or the fact that no one had ever put it on to play.

And apparently it was the first reminder for Daryl too.

But it had come very close to ruining Russ's life at the moment…and Sophia…half asleep now on the floor but unwilling to relinquish the food or the chance to cry…was holding tight to her sympathetic suffering.

"Son! I just forgot!" Daryl protested. "You ain't watchin' most of it no damn way…you goin' ta bed soon."

That just made Russ cry even harder while Daryl did put the movie in, and Carol almost laughed at the fact that all the pain and suffering in one small space almost made it feel like there was something wrong with her for not crying too. She felt like she should probably consider starting it soon to join them.

"Christ…this has been one long damn day," Daryl muttered as he came back to the couch, fiddling with the remote in his hand to get the movie to play. "There…Russ…there it is…stop cryin' an' eat while you watch it or I'm turnin' it off an' ya goin' ta bed just like ya is…"

It took Russ a moment to get it under control, but apparently this threat was one that he knew that his father would follow through with, because even as he was controlling the sobs, he was doing it with food hovering just outside his mouth as proof that he was complying to the best of his abilities.

Sophia, on the other hand, was not.

And Carol moved her plate out of the way and went, dragging her daughter up from the floor like the lifeless, boneless sack of baby misery that she was attempting to turn into at the moment. She grabbed her sippy cup and took the girl over to the couch, sitting with her like she was still an infant, and offering her the sippy cup while Sophia scrubbed at her eyes and fought against all the things she wanted out of life.

"I can't hear it! Sophia…please…um…please be quiet…I can't hear it!" Russ whined from where he was sitting.

Daryl turned the volume up a little on the television.

"Stop fussin'…you the one started this shit…she weren't cryin' 'til you thought it was a good idea ta melt down 'steada sayin' Daddy would ya start my movie now like a big boy," Daryl said.

Carol rocked Sophia, but she was all but asleep at the moment.

"I'm sorry…I told you this wasn't a good idea," Carol said. She shook her head at Daryl. "I brought chaos…"

Daryl chuckled and picked at the food from the plate beside him.

"What chaos? This is just Wednesday," he said, laughing again.

"It's Tuesday," Carol offered.

Daryl chuckled and shook his head again, swiping his hand across his face as he chewed.

"That too," he said.

Russ crawled across the floor on his knees toward the couch and Daryl clucked at him, catching his attention and stalling his forward movement for a second before he continued with caution, watching Daryl right up until he bumped into Carol's legs and realized he'd made it as far as he could go in one direction.

"You ain't watchin' that movie," Daryl said.

Russ ignored him and leaned his chin against Carol's knee, looking at Sophia who was already asleep now, dressing smeared on her face and on its way to drying into a flaky design.

"Sometimes…sometimes my Anandrea holds me like that," Russ said to Carol…cutting his eyes at her.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing at him.

"That's 'cause ya Aunt Andrea suffers from some kinda nestin' problem," Daryl said. "Go watcha movie…"

Russ looked like he was considering crying once more and cut his eyes back at Carol.

"He's had a hard day…haven't you?" Carol asked Russ.

He looked at her, more pathetic than before and nodded his head. She bit her lip again.

"You want me ta hold ya?" Daryl asked after a second, obviously feeling guilty.

Russ shook his head.

"Do you want me to hold you?" Carol asked.

Russ didn't nod, but he didn't shake his head, so Carol nodded.

"Daryl…do you think you could put Sophia in the crib?" Carol asked. "Her mouse is in her bag…on top…"

Daryl nodded and got up, going to get the mouse first and take it to the crib in the corner.

"Ya gonna bathe her? Put her pajamas on?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head.

"At this point…I think it's better just to let her sleep…" Carol said. "If you want to change her diaper…she'll sleep through that…but anything else will wake her up to be ill."

Daryl nodded and Carol leaned back, Russ crawling out of the way, to give Daryl enough room to pick Sophia up out of her arms. Sophia jerked a little, but settled when he hugged her to him and he moved her to the floor gently and went about changing her diaper from the bag.

Carol watched him a second, smiling to herself at how oddly in his element he seemed with something that got so many people all up in arms, and then she patted her legs and looked at Russ.

"Come here…" she said.

He scrambled into her lap and she smiled at the fact that he took it upon himself to arrange his body the way that he wanted to be held, moving her arms as though they were blankets almost, and settled down to lie against her and watch the movie with his head at an odd angle.

"Are you even comfortable?" She asked him after a moment.

He looked at her a moment, readjusted himself, and then nodded, turning back to his movie and she figured that he must be fine.

Daryl put Sophia in the crib and came over, sitting on the couch again.

"You can't even eat like that," Daryl said.

Carol smiled at him and looked at Russ. She rubbed him, just where her hands were, so she wouldn't disturb him and shook her head slightly.

"I'll finish eating later," she said, keeping her voice just above a whisper so as to not disturb Russ…who she suspected might very well go to sleep like Sophia had done given a little more time to do so. "Take care of the important things first…right?"

She looked at Daryl and caught the smiled that creeped across his lips. He nodded his head slightly and turned his attention to finishing up what was left of his food and watching the dinosaur movie that was playing on the television.

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**AN: For those who don't know (since I've been asked) here's a little, quick dictionary guide to at least two of the words that are commonly used by Carol and Daryl but you might not know because their usage is a "regional" thing.**

**Nuss- To nuss means to nuzzle, cuddle, nurse etc. It comes from "to nurse" and is considered to have come from a poor pronunciation of the word. **

**Ill (ill) – While the word can mean "sick", it's regionally used to mean that someone is in a bad mood or grumpy. It comes from a shortened form (most likely) of ill-tempered. **

**Let me know if there's anything else you need to know! **


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: So I got this one out for you and I'll leave it with you.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl came back from putting Russ down and walked over to where Carol was standing at the sink, washing up the last of the dishes, her cold meal finished while Daryl was putting the boy to bed.

Daryl stepped behind her, fitting his body against hers, and leaned his face into the crook between her neck and her shoulder.

"You hear that?" He asked.

"What?" She responded, cutting off the water.

Daryl backed up and handed her a hand towel to dry her hands.

"Nothin'," he said. "They both asleep…"

Carol chuckled at him and nodded her head. They were both asleep.

"And I've got work tomorrow," she said to Daryl. 

"Who ain't?" He asked.

He stepped forward, backing her against the sink, wrapping his arms around her, and she kissed him when he brought his lips to hers.

"Spend a lil' time with me?" He asked, backing up just enough to see her and to allow her to stand upright if she wanted, but not moving from against her entirely.

Carol sucked in a breath. She didn't want to tell him that her eyes were burning and that she was as exhausted as the kids…she wasn't used to the whole thing of getting up, going into work, and then coming home to deal with…well…all of this now.

It was new to her.

"I'm really tired," she admitted. "Like really…really…really tired."

Daryl leaned and kissed her again, pulling her close to him like she'd been before.

"What if I said…ya ain't gotta do nothin'? I'll do all the work?" Daryl asked.

Carol chuckled.

"How much fun is that for you?" She asked.

"Mmmm…make it work," Daryl said.

"How are we going to handle this…Sophia and Russ…in the morning?" Carol asked. "I've got to take Sophia to Miss Jo's…and get to work…and I brought clothes…but I've got to get ready…"

Daryl backed up and moved away from her this time. He went to the fridge, fumbled around in there, and came up with a beer, cracking it open and taking a swallow while he scratched his fingers through his hair.

"You could use a haircut…" Carol commented.

He laughed, nearly spitting out some of his beer, and wiped at his mouth with his hand.

"On my list a' shit ta do," he said. "Now…'bout tomorrow…I could take both of 'em if ya want…"

Carol made a face and shook her head.

"It's going to be Soph's first day with her," Carol said. "I don't want her to…I don't know…I don't want Sophia to be bothered by the fact that you're taking her somewhere…and then she's with this woman that she doesn't know well…I just don't know how she's going to react."

Daryl nodded his head, gnawing at his lip.

"She's gon' be fine with Miss Jo," Daryl said. "Hell…she'll get her a rabbit ta cuddle or somethin' if she gets upset…Miss Jo's…she's like that grandma that every kid wishes they had…"

Carol laughed to herself.

"She's like Mrs. Clause," Carol said.

Daryl smiled and nodded. He pointed at her with the finger looped around the beer can.

"That too…she's gon' be fine with her…" Daryl said. "But…I get'cha not wantin' ta not be there…I mean…damn near killed me the first time I left Russ…an' he was too damn small ta know what the hell was goin' on."

"If Russ wants," Carol offered, "I could take him…save you the trip."

Daryl shrugged and then bit at his thumb, examining it after a second. He nodded his head.

"I mean…if Russ wants…I think he'd be fine with it," Daryl said. "He's a lil' bit of an ass sometimes in the mornin'…grumpy an' shit 'bout gettin' up if he weren't ready ta get up…but if he wants…I ain't got no problem with ya takin' him. I can put the car seat in ya car tomorrow…but I was gonna take Sophia ta give ya time ta get ready."

Carol nodded. She didn't mind taking Russ when she took Sophia. If the boy wanted to ride with them, she didn't have any more problem taking two children as she did taking just the one.

"I guess…I need to shower first?" Carol said. "Or I could shower tonight…"

Daryl looked at her a moment and then he got the sideways grin on his face.

And Carol almost laughed to herself because, without even saying anything, she felt like she could read exactly what that grin was saying. She smiled back at him.

"I could help ya…" Daryl offered. "I mean…'cause ya tired…might…uh…need some supervision or somethin'…"

Carol laughed.

"Supervision? So I don't drown?" Carol asked.

Daryl shrugged.

"What about the kids?" Carol asked.

"They asleep…" Daryl offered.

"And if they wake up?" Carol asked.

Daryl shook his head.

"You don't never shower when it's just you an' Sophia?" Daryl asked.

Carol shrugged and nodded her head.

"Same rules apply," Daryl said with a shrug. He tipped back the beer and drank out of it, keeping one eye on her and she shook her head again.

She walked over, checking on Sophia, but the girl was out…her skipped nap and all the energy she'd put into being a drama queen had rendered her completely and thoroughly worn out for the evening. She really had no reason to suspect that the girl would be awake any time soon.

She turned around, nodding her head and her body loosely.

"Yeah…let's take a shower," she said, fighting back the smile.

The truth was…she'd never taken a shower with a man before…and it made her feel like she was too much of an amateur for Daryl.

She didn't say anything about it, though, not at that moment. She gathered up the stuff that she'd brought for herself to change into for bed and followed Daryl to the bathroom that he directed her toward.

And it was almost funny, since his house was so small, because before they could shower…they had to move tub toys and everything else out of the way. Before they could shower…and Carol didn't know what else Daryl might be expecting out of the experience…they had to "de-kid" the place.

But Carol started to find it less troublesome as she undressed and Daryl started the water, moving to undress himself.

And in the light of the bathroom, it was the first time that she'd had the opportunity to really study him…to really look at what he looked like, without clothes on. Before they'd been in the dark and in the dim light of his bedroom that was heavily shaded.

She tried not to imagine what she might look like to him in the fluorescent bathroom lights…because she knew if she focused on it too much she'd embarrass herself and she'd want to hide from him.

But if he noticed all the things that she was ashamed of…all the things that she might have wanted to hide from him, he didn't say anything about it. He slid back the shower curtain and waved her on to get into the shower with him.

And she stepped in.

When he turned around, fiddling with the water, his body blocking her from the spray at the moment, she felt her heart grab. She had felt them before…with her fingertips…and she'd just barely caught a glimpse of them in the bedroom…but for the first time she came face to face with the scars on his back.

Purple and red streaks of anger…and beside them, tattooed there probably many years after the handiwork of who she knew to be his father from what he'd told her, he had demons…

And she wondered if, perhaps, the demons were there as a reminder of his own demons…the demons that she knew he had to have…no matter how well he seemed to hide them.

He turned around and apparently her face gave away what she'd been looking at because he stopped and then he frowned, reaching a hand up and over his shoulder, like he was touching his fingertips to them and reminding himself of what she might have seen there.

"Sorry," Daryl said, his voice lower than before. "They…uh…ain't real nice ta look at."

Carol shook her head at him, unable to will her face not to show what she was feeling.

"I think they're beautiful," she said.

Daryl chuckled ironically.

"Beautiful, huh?" He said.

She nodded.

"They…show…who you are, I guess?" She said. "Maybe the reason that you're the kind of man you are…"

Daryl, obviously uncomfortable at the moment, slid around her…not an easy task in such a small space, and pushed her under the water in an almost unexpected movement. She took that as her indication that she should start washing…so she reached for the shampoo bottle and began to lather her hair as soon as it was wet enough to do so.

"What…uh…what kinda man ya think I am?" He asked while she washed her hair.

Carol kept her eyes closed so that the lather didn't run into them. She shook her head.

"I think that you're…a very good father," she said. "And I think that's…maybe the noblest kind of man there is…"

Daryl chuckled again.

"Yeah…that's me, a regular fuckin' white knight," Daryl commented.

"Maybe you are," Carol responded. "In your own way…"

Daryl was silent for a moment and Carol worked at her hair, not wanting to say anything else in case she'd somehow offended him, even though that hadn't been her intention.

"Listen," Daryl said after a moment, "I don't want'cha ta get the wrong idea about me…I don't want'cha thinkin' I'm some kinda great guy…'cause I ain't…an' I'm…an asshole sometimes…an' I been known ta drink too damn much an' I been known ta raise a lotta hell…Russ…he's calmed my ass down a lot 'cause I ain't had no other choice…but I don't want'cha thinkin' I'm some kinda…white knight."

When Carol felt confident that she had enough of the soap rinsed out of her hair that she could do so without ending up with an eye full of lather, she swiped her eyes with her hands and stepped out of the spray to look at him.

"I don't think you're perfect," Carol said. She shook her head. "I don't think anybody is…but…I was never asking for perfection. I can't offer it in return."

Daryl stared at her and passed her a bottle that she read to be conditioner. She ran it through her hair, assuming that's what he was beckoning her to do.

"You got scars too," Daryl said.

And he reached a hand out, running a fingertip quickly across a stretchmark and making Carol shiver at the tickle that the soft touch caused.

Carol looked down at where his hand had trailed and shook her head.

"I've got a few little scars…here and there," she said. "But those aren't scars…they're stretch marks."

She sighed.

"And they're not going anywhere…sorry," Carol said, making a face and dipping back under the water.

Her stretch marks had been something that Ed had absolutely hated. He'd told her how disgusting they were…he'd hated looking at her after they were there.

But they were just another thing that he'd hated…just another thing that she couldn't erase because she didn't have that kind of magic eraser.

"I know what stretch marks are," Daryl said. "An' they like scars…prob'ly got 'em from Sophia…"

Carol laughed to herself as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. She nodded.

"I did," she said. "Everywhere…"

"Better'n scars," Daryl said. "Hell…least the person give them to ya…give 'em to ya with a purpose…"

When Carol could open her eyes again, she found Daryl leaning against the back wall of the shower, chewing at his thumb. She looked around, finding a washrag and a bar of soap.

"You know," she said. "I thought this would go differently…I've never showered with a man before…but this wasn't how I thought it went."

Daryl chuckled and straightened himself up.

"Well…I ain't never showered with no woman before either," he said. "An'…gotta admit…at first I thought it was gonna go different…but…Russ's room is right there an' it gets too loud in here or they too much thumpin' about an' he's liable ta be comin' all up in here an' tryin' ta figure out what the hell's got trapped in here."

Carol laughed. She hadn't thought before about the bathroom placement, but effectively they were trapped between the living room and Russ's room…too much noise in the bathroom and they could wake both of the demons.

"So we're…literally just showering together…" Carol said with a laugh.

Daryl responded with his own amusement.

"Looks like it…kinda nice, though…you don't think?" He responded.

She worked on lathering herself.

"No…I do think it's kind of nice," Carol said. "And…I'm not as nervous about this as I was when I was trying to figure out how people have sex in the shower…"

Daryl chuckled.

"Tell that truth…I weren't too sure myself…but I reckon I'd give it a try," he responded. He paused for a moment. "I mean…if I weren't scared we was gonna wake up the young'uns."

Carol smiled and nodded.

"I knew what you meant," she said.

And she thought it was kind of odd to even say that…that she had known what he'd meant. It was nice…because her only real experience before with a man had been Ed…and more than half the time she never knew what was going on in Ed's mind or why he was the way he was. It was oddly refreshing to feel like she understood Daryl, even if he hadn't said what he was thinking yet.

And suddenly she wasn't quite as exhausted as she had been.

"Aren't you going to wash?" She asked Daryl.

He laughed.

"Truth?" He asked.

She nodded and a smile spread across his face.

"Took a shower before ya got here," he said.

"So you're just…hanging out?" Carol asked, rinsing the soap off her body as she went.

"Here for the comp'ny I guess," Daryl said.

Carol smiled to herself now that her back was to him.

"So…in a minute…when I'm done here…do I bother putting on my pajamas? Or should I just go for the towel when we move this to the bedroom?"

She felt her cheeks grow warm and she wouldn't have dared at the moment to turn around and look at his face to see how he might take the comment and her forwardness in the situation.

She did hear him laugh lightly though.

"Your call," he said. "But I wouldn't be pissed off if ya wanted ta air dry a lil' bit…"

Carol smiled to herself.

"I think that's a good idea," she said. "Better for the skin…and it means I'll be doing less laundry…"

Daryl was quiet for a second and then he laughed to himself.

"Just playin' the part a' the damn white knight, ya know? Savin' the queen from havin' ta do so damn much laundry…" he commented.

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**AN: So for those of you who are going to ask…let me go ahead and tell you. This is a nice fade to black moment. I'm not writing the smut from here…but you should feel free to let your imaginations run wild and design any amount of activities that you'd like to plan for the couple. I trust your instincts. **


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter for you all.**

**My visit was great, but I admit that I'm exhausted and far behind on work. That means I'll be playing catch up and I have a lot of things coming up as well. I'm sure that means that updates will be more sporadic (and shorter, maybe), but I'll try to get chapters out when and where I can! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol was already tired when she started the drive toward Jo Greene's house with Russ in tow beside Sophia in the backseat.

But tired or not, she had to drop both kids off and then head I my work for another day of the not so fascinating meetings and such that came along with preparing for her new job.

"I don't feel good," Russ protested for the second time since they'd left the house.

Carol wasn't sure if he actually didn't feel good like he suggested, or if he was tired and just wanted someone to stay home with him like Daryl suggested.

Russ hadn't identified any of the symptoms of his possibly phantom illness beyond the fact that he didn't feel good and he thought that it might be better if he were to stay with Daryl during the day rather than go to Jo's. Even when he was pressed, he had no real description of his problems…nothing but the repetition of the phrase that Daryl assured her meant that nothing was wrong with Russ beyond the feeling that he might miss something…though there was nothing to miss and he'd probably have a far better time with Jo than either Daryl or Carol would have their jobs.

"I'm sorry, Russ," Carol said, glancing at the boy through the rearview mirror. "I'm sure that Miss Jo will let you rest and will take care of you when we get there."

She was pretty sure she was following directions well, but she didn't remember exactly how to get to Hershel and Jo Greene's farm and Daryl's directions had included a lot more landmarks and a lot fewer road names than she'd actually hoped for.

"It's OK," Russ whined back with a voice that indicated anything but the fact that he was OK with the arrangement. "I just…I wish…you know? I could have stayed with Daddy…"

Carol chewed her lip, glancing around her for her boundaries and glanced back at the boy. Sophia was looking at him now and again like she wanted to know what was wrong with him, but she was on a car adventure and had been promised the possibility of a rabbit, so for the most part she was simply bobbing in her seat and humming to herself along with the kids' music CD that Carol had playing low…the one she'd heard so many times by now that she sometimes, although she hated to admit it, caught herself playing it in the car even when Sophia wasn't with her.

"Well…" Carol responded, feeling like she had to tread easily because Russ was an odd sort of sponge to literally everything, "your Daddy had to work…and I have to work…but Miss Jo, she's going to take great care of you and you're going to have a great time there."

"Is my Daddy going to come get me?" Russ asked.

Carol nodded.

The day before she'd stayed late at work trying to get the feel of some things after the meetings that they'd been put through and she'd tried to mingle a little and get to know some of the people, at least by name, that she'd be working with. But today she'd agreed that she'd be leaving early and she'd pick both kids up, since she had Russ's car seat, and with any luck she'd follow directions to the shop where Daryl worked to drop both Russ and his seat off there since she would be done before Daryl.

"He won't come pick you up," Carol explained. "I'll pick you up…but I'm going to take you by the shop where your Daddy works."

Russ didn't look entirely happy with this. He sucked his teeth.

"Is that OK?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," he said remorsefully. "I just wish…I wish my Daddy was picking me up. I miss my Daddy."

Carol bit her lip. It hadn't been half an hour since he saw his Daddy…his Daddy who had entertained both children while Carol got ready and did a pretty good job of dressing of Sophia…though he'd insisted that he didn't do hair. But she supposed that she knew what the boy was trying to say and the arrangement was odd to him. It was odd to her too. After all, this was the first time that she'd done anything like this and she was already asking herself exactly what it meant that she was spending the night with Daryl on nights that she had to work and she was driving his son around.

"I know you miss him," Carol offered. "But you'll see him soon…"

She paused and then glanced in the mirror again to watch the boy's face.

"And I'm going to need your help finding the shop," she said. "Do you know where your Daddy works?"

Russ looked at her and nodded his head slightly, not looking like he'd given up entirely on his misery.

"Yeah he just works with my Uncle Merle…an' he works with Mac and Wren too. They work on cars…an' sometimes…I get to work on the cars…I'm really good at it," Russ explained.

Carol nodded at him and furrowed her brow to make sure that he knew that she took him very seriously.

"I heard that you were really good at it," she said. "What do you like to do with the cars? How do you work on them?"

Russ sighed somewhat dramatically. Apparently all of her incessant chatter and general lack of knowledge and common sense was a little tiring to his superior intellect.

"I just work on them…you have to…there's a lot you have to do," Russ said. He nodded his head dramatically at her and sighed again. "It's a lot…and I'm really good at it…my Daddy lets me work on the cars…because I like it and I'm really good at it."

Carol nodded her head, repeating the last four words for him in her mind as he said them out loud.

After a few more miles and a little more idle chit chat, Carol was silently congratulating herself on having found the house that she was looking for. She parked the car and got out, checking to make sure that she was still as far ahead of time as she needed to be in order to not be too rushed dropping them off and making it to work, and then she got the kids out, Sophia waiting patiently to be unbuckled and put on her feet and Russ unbuckling himself and crawling over Sophia's side to come spilling out the car as quickly as he possibly could.

Carol had a feeling that his ailment was getting better, though it wasn't completely gone.

Russ bounded ahead, toward the farmhouse, while Carol tugged Sophia around by her arm, listening to her comment on the cows that they could see from where they were parked, and got out the bags for both children.

Then she tugged Sophia toward the farmhouse where Russ was already knocking at the door.

Jo Greene opened the door after a moment at Russ's knocking and looked around and then she smiled at Carol.

"Come on in with all of that," Jo declared when she saw how loaded down Carol was with bags and things.

"Thanks…" Carol said, nodding at her and passing quickly into the house. She deposited the bags on the floor where Jo pointed out a spot for her and realized quickly enough that they weren't alone when she found herself being scowled at by a little black girl probably no older than Sophia who seemed to be silently scolding her for whatever she was interrupting.

Jo must have seen it too, even as she pulled Sophia and Russ inside.

"Angie…this is Miss Carol," Jo said. "Carol this is Angie. Her sister isn't up yet, but Angie's my early bird. She helps me get breakfast ready in the mornings because she gets up and comes to see me even before Papa Hershel leaves to get his day started."

"Hi Angie," Carol said to the little girl who seemed to be carefully deciding if she was going to replace her scowl, now turned inquisitive, with a smile. "You look like you're just about Sophia's age. I bet she'll like playing with you."

Jo hummed at her.

"I bet they'll have a great time," Jo said. "Angie's a little slow to warm up…but once she's there, she's a sweetheart. Russ, where's your Daddy?"

"He's at work," Russ responded, going to the kitchen and tugging at the handle on the refrigerator as though he were right in his own home.

"What do you need?" Jo asked.

"I'm just a little thirsty," Russ declared.

The woman set about getting him something to drink and Carol watched as Sophia curiously followed Angie into the living room, apparently having already forgotten entirely about Carol's presence now that she had a new friend who likely had toys to lure her away.

"Russ says he doesn't feel well," Carol said, "but he seems to be feeling a little better."

"You don't feel good?" Jo asked the boy as she handed him a cup with juice in it. He accepted the cup and drank from it before answering her.

"I just don't feel good," he said, his voice changing. "I wished my Daddy would stay with me, but he has to work."

Jo smiled.

"He does have to work," Jo said. "And I'm glad he didn't stay with you so you could come and see me. Papa Hershel is getting the tractor ready and he said something about a little boy helping him…but if you're not feeling well…"

Russ's eyes got big.

"No…no…I feel better," Russ declared. "I think I just…all I need was some juice, because I was very thirsty, but I feel better now. Where's Papa Hershel?"

Jo laughed lightly and Carol couldn't help but laugh too. There was nothing like something more exciting than what a child thought they wanted to make them feel all better about whatever it was that they weren't getting.

"He's outside," Jo said. "He'll come up and get you when he's ready for you. You drink your juice and I'm sure he'll be here soon. Where did Sophia go?"

Jo directed the last question at Carol.

"She followed Angie," Carol said.

Jo smiled.

"Angie has already got all the toys out in the living room," Jo explained. "Her mother's a lawyer and she goes in pretty early in the morning. Usually my day starts with a cup of coffee and little Miss Angie joining me for breakfast. Celine, her younger sister, sleeps in…but not Angie."

Carol smiled and nodded her head. Even though she didn't know Jo Greene all that well, she felt like she did. And she felt like Sophia, much like Daryl had insisted, wasn't going to have any problem at all with staying with the woman.

"Well," Carol said, looking at Russ who was drinking his juice by the counter and then glancing toward the living room, "I guess I'm going to tell Sophia bye and then I'm going to work…they both ate breakfast but Sophia ate better than Russ did."

Jo nodded her head.

"I ate my food," Russ declared. "I just…didn't want it all because I wanted waffles and not oatmeal but Daddy said I was getting oatmeal and I just couldn't eat as much oatmeal as I could eat waffles."

Carol nodded her head. That was a little like the way that breakfast had gone. Russ had wanted waffles and Daryl had declared that oatmeal was on the menu so Russ had more or less pouted his way through the amount that Daryl had declared that he had to eat if he didn't want to be in trouble.

Sophia, on the other hand, couldn't care less what she was served. Oatmeal, waffles…it just didn't matter. It was all the same to her and she'd liked that Daryl had strawberries and let her eat as much of those as she wanted with the oatmeal that she scarfed down.

"I'm sure we'll have a snack before long," Jo said. "Angie has to have her snacks if we want peace in the house and Papa Hershel likes to have his snack with them because farm work works up quite the appetite, doesn't it, Russ?"

Russ nodded, eyeing Carol.

Carol slipped around into the living room and found Sophia making friends quite easily with Angie. Rather than disturb them entirely and cause a scene, Carol bent down enough to kiss the girl on the side of the face and declare that she loved her. Sophia looked at her and smiled, like she'd only just remembered she had a mother, and told Carol that she loved her too…probably not entirely understanding that the declaration meant that Carol was about to leave…and then Carol slipped back in the kitchen to say goodbye to Russ and to let Jo know that she would be picking him up for Daryl that afternoon.

Carol slipped out of the farm house, leaving Jo Greene with her wards for the day, and smiled and waved at Hershel when she saw him crossing the yard toward the house slowly. He waved warmly back and Carol got into her car, checking the piece of paper with her scribbled directions and checking the time again so that she could head toward work for her second day. She didn't want to be late, after all, and created a poor impression of herself so early in the game.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter here! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"I'm just sayin' it's different," Daryl insisted as he worked, his brother leaning over him having spent more of the past half hour giving him a hard time about Carol staying at his house and taking Russ to the Greene house…and consequently bringing him by the shop later…than he'd spent doing much of anything that resembled billable work, "she's already got a kid so she ain't…hell I don't know…losin' her damn mind over shit like we gotta watch this here cartoon if you want even half an hour's peace right now. You don't know…you ain't got kids…but you gonna know soon enough I reckon."

Merle chuckled.

"You just full a' shit," Merle mused. "We've kept Russ some…he ain't runnin' no damn body off…she ain't the first one that woulda stuck around…just admit that she's the first damn one ya tried ta get ta stick around. You ain't made it through two dates with no damn body else since Heather…"

Daryl shook his head.

"I ain't sayin' it like she's some kinda creature I just up an' decided ta settle for like they weren't nothin' better to come so I figured I'd take what the hell I could get," Daryl explained. "Hell…I'm tellin' ya right damn now that I like her…I'm just sayin' too that it's a hell of a lot different with her 'cause she's got the kid an' she ain't damn gun shy 'bout Russ."

Mac sucked his teeth loudly from where he was fiddling with a part that he'd been sanding for some time for a car that Wren was supposed to be fixing.

"Nah…he's right," Mac announced. "Hell…when me an' Rhonda split the boys was damn young'uns an' I ain't had both of 'em but every other weekend an' every damn Wednesday night. Still…I didn't hardly date a soul more'n once 'til they was on up around sixteen years old. Tellin' a woman you got kids that ain't hers is about like tellin' her you got the bubonic plague an' it's catchin'."

Daryl snorted.

Merle had a different view of how everything happened because his view was rooted in what he thought and not at all rooted in reality.

He based his views on women on the relationships that he'd had back when he was a bachelor playing the field…and things were a hell of a lot different when you were a bachelor that had never had any ties to anyone or anything…and when you didn't have kids.

He had always figured that the women that Daryl went out with and then passed up after what was usually a failed first date were always proof that Daryl was too picky or that he was pining after Heather…or even that he just didn't have no interest in women that extended beyond the accident that had been most of his relationship with Heather.

But that wasn't always the case.

There had been one or two mildly interesting women that Daryl had ended up on a date with…but it never went farther than the one date.

He had learned quickly that he could use the mention of Russ to run off anyone that he didn't like for whatever reason, but he'd also learned that "single father" was like date repellant. No matter how good he might think things were going in the first half hour, all he'd have to do was mention the fact that there was Russ…and there wasn't anyone else…and she was running as fast as she could for the exit and spewing something about it wasn't him, it was her.

Carol was different, though. Carol had Sophia. She knew what it was like, even if she was newer to the game than Daryl was, to feel like as soon as you dropped the bomb that you had in your back pocket all the fun was going to be over before it had even begun.

And Carol seemed, though they were still getting to know each other, to like Russ…and Russ seemed to like her. Russ wasn't a difficult kid to read, after all. He was too damn honest most of the time for his own good and it had resulted in a number of instances where Daryl had to clap his hand over the boy's mouth to keep him from continuing to spew his observations about people that weren't really observations he needed to share with the world. The fact that he had nothing really negative to say about Carol went a good way in showing that he liked her and he felt comfortable around her.

And Daryl liked her. He liked her, honestly, more than he was comfortable with entirely. He liked her more than he thought he was supposed to at this point in the game and he was almost afraid that she would figure it out and run, not from Russ, but from the sheer overwhelming feeling that would most likely come along with finding out that someone you'd had such a short run of a relationship with was finding themselves more intoxicated by you than they really had a reason to.

"Mac's right," Daryl said.

"Write that down," Wren called out. "Ain't too damn often nobody can say that shit…"

"Shut up, Wren," Mac called out. "Ain't you got shit you should be doing? I ended up doing ya damn job…"

Daryl shook his head to himself at the two men who bickered like they'd been married for forty or fifty years…and that was mostly owing to the fact that they almost had been.

Mac had owned the shop since he was probably just shy of twenty and bought the building off an old man who was going out of business because he was too damn old to keep the place running. Wren had been a scrawny ass teenager looking for work and he'd found it at the shop.

Wren was married and holding…to the same woman he'd been with since he was shy of eighteen, and Mac had been through at least four or five failed attempts at marriage, but their relationship had stood the test of time. For all intents and purposes it looked like they hated each other…but Daryl would venture to say that the two men cared more for each other than they probably did for half the people they called kin.

"He is right…an' I'm tellin' ya right now I'ma kick the damn ass a' any one a' you assholes says or does somethin' stupid when she's here," Daryl threatened. "She's bringin' Russ an' if she wants ta come in an' look around, I wanna bring her in here without worrying that y'all dumb asses 'bout ta put the nail in the coffin that I been tryin' ta keep out."

"Hell…" Merle drawled out. "Ain't gon' do shit…I wanna look at her…we all do. You know Andrea's ass is done talkin' 'bout you bringin' her over for a lil' family dinner."

He laughed at the end of it and it drew some laughter from the other two men.

Daryl didn't respond. Andrea did want to meet Carol…and it wasn't Andrea that Daryl had any reservations about. She would behave like a human being, and she could somewhat keep Merle in line by threatening his ass with the various things that she would or wouldn't do to him if he stepped out of line, but Daryl was a little preoccupied with risking Merle's mouth around Carol.

Merle wasn't a bad person…not really…but he, like Mac and Wren too, could be an asshole when his mouth didn't check with his brain first about speaking. He was, essentially, an acquired taste and Daryl wasn't too sure that Carol would have acquired that taste during her life.

And he just didn't want to risk Merle running her off. Not now…

"I mean it," he muttered. "Ever' damn one a' ya better act like ya asses is up for a boy scout badge or some shit…don't'cha fuck this shit up for me…"

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Carol hoped that Daryl wasn't going to be surprised when he saw that Russ was so dirty from his day at the farm that he hardly looked like himself. Sophia was filthy too. Jo Greene had apologized, stating that she'd meant to get them a bath before Carol got there, but Carol had gotten off work a little bit earlier than she'd anticipated and surprised the woman.

And she didn't really mind…dirt could be washed off, after all…but they were both remarkably filthy.

When she got to the shop, pleased with herself for having found it armed only with Daryl's directions and Russ's chain of commands that would have probably gotten her to the moon quicker than they would have gotten her to where she was trying to get, she got both children out of the car and headed toward the open stall door where she could hear the echoing sounds of voices and power tools coming from inside.

Russ ran ahead and she didn't try to stop him. Apparently this place was something of his element and he was more familiar with it than she was.

She knew she'd probably made the right decision when she heard a chorus of "Russ" echoing through the shop and then a few moments later a man that wasn't even her height came out with Russ on his hip, even though the placement of the boy made his diminutive height even more dramatic.

Before he spoke or in any way acknowledged Carol's presence, the man put Russ on his feet on a concrete slab just outside the door with a drain in the middle of it and grabbed a hose off the wall. He started spraying the boy and Russ howled with laughter, dancing in a circle in the stream of water.

Sophia, with Carol holding tight to her hand, began to have a fit over the water that she was missing out on and that was the moment that the little man looked at Carol.

"You don't mind her gettin' wet, let her get on in here," he said. "Just the same to me to water two as it is to water one."

Carol smiled at him and released Sophia's hand. Sophia stopped as soon as she gained her freedom and stared at Carol a moment like this was some sort of trick.

"Go ahead," Carol said, gesturing toward the impromptu bath that Russ was enjoying.

Daryl came out of the shop a moment later and Carol watched as he flicked a cigarette down from behind his ear and lit it. She knew that he smoked, he didn't try to hide the habit at all, but at least he wasn't a constant smoker. The habit didn't really bother her, but the constant smoking reminded her too much of Ed who had been one of those chain smokers that had barely put one cigarette out before he'd lit another.

Daryl walked over to stand beside her and look at the little man that was watering the children who seemed to think it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to them.

"Russ give ya trouble?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head. It was the truth. The boy wasn't really any trouble at all. He was obedient and even though he might like to "discuss" things a little more than she was used to, since Sophia wasn't an overly chatty child, she didn't mind his chatter.

"He was good," she said. "Who's that?" She asked, pointing toward the little man.

"Name's Robert Wren," Daryl said. "We all call him Wren, though…keeps him from gettin' confused with Mac since they both Roberts."

Carol nodded, accepting that the man must be someone that worked there and obviously was well acquainted with both Daryl and Russ.

Carol turned when she heard the approaching sound of other footsteps out of the shop and two other men walked out. One was a skinny older man, probably older even than the small man watering the children. He had shoulder length white hair and the rough looking complexion of someone who couldn't be scrubbed clean. The other was closer to her in age, his face set in a scowl, and he was working away at a toothpick caught between his teeth.

"This here's Mac," Daryl said, gesturing toward the oldest of the men. "An' this is Merle…my brother."

Carol stopped a moment. She was surprised. She knew that Daryl had a brother, and she knew that he was older than Daryl, but she was searching the man out for any resemblance between the two of them.

It was only when his face dissolved into something of the crooked smile…a smile that Daryl wore a good bit and Carol had seen a number of times cross Russ's face…that Carol saw any resemblance at all.

The man lurched forward, offering a hand to Carol to shake and she stuck hers out to grab his. When he closed his thick hand around hers, he chuckled and pulled her closer to him, clapping her on the back in a show of comradery from what she could tell.

"So you the lil' lady we done heard so damn much about…" he mused.

And at that point the other two men laughed and she caught them cutting their eyes at her, though she felt like she was being left out of some joke that had been told.

She looked toward Daryl who had changed hues a little.

"I…I guess," she stuttered out, not knowing what else to say.

And apparently her lack of words was amusing because it brought another round of laughter from all three of the men present.

"Reckon you are…" Merle said, backing away from her now and very obviously examining her. She held her breath and tried to maintain a smile, not wanting to give away the fact that she was still trying to adjust to this new element. Merle hummed at her and nodded his head, but she just forced herself to smile a little more and hoped that it came out looking at least somewhat natural. "I done called my wife…you comin' ta dinner tonight…"

Daryl started to protest when Carol looked at him with her mouth falling open a little, not quite sure how to respond to the sudden invitation that came out as less of an invitation and more of a command.

But his brother cut him off.

"Yep…you both comin'…won't take no for an answer," Merle said, nodding his head at Carol before sucking his teeth and turning his attention, the conversation obviously over in his opinion by merit of his wife's long distance command, toward the two children who would soon be water logged but were enjoying equally the spray of the hose and the puddles forming around their feet in the heat of the Georgia sun.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: Here we go, the first chapter to the dinner chapters. I imagine there will only be two, but this is sort of the "introduction" before the meal. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol had gotten home and gotten ready for the dinner that she'd more or less been pushed into accepting in a mad rush. She was almost nervous enough to feel sick to her stomach, though she knew that it was ridiculous to feel so wound up about meeting Daryl's sister in law and getting to know his brother better. Unfortunately, though, Alice was at work and therefore wasn't there to give Carol the pep talk that she wished she could beg for.

Sophia had been sufficiently hosed down to the point that by the time Carol got her home she didn't really need a bath, but Carol did put her in one of the cutest outfits that she could find for her and put her hair up in pigtails so that the curls, amplified thanks to the water hose shower, weren't going everywhere.

And then she loaded the little girl up into the car and drove to the house that Daryl had given her directions to, hoping that she would…be acceptable? Hoping that they wouldn't hate her from the get-go for one reason or another and convince Daryl that he was making some kind of terrible mistake to have even allowed her into his life as much as he had? She wasn't sure what she was feeling exactly…but it didn't stop her from reciting something like a prayer that things went well and that neither she nor Sophia did anything entirely unforgivable.

When Carol got to the house, she knew that she was in the right place because of Daryl's vehicle being in the driveway. She pulled up behind it and took a deep breath before she made any move to get out. She flipped down the visor, checked her reflection, and reapplied her lip gloss in an effort to look as presentable as she could.

The house was nothing unusual or remarkable at all. It was simply a nice little house suitable for a small family perhaps.

Carol got out of the car and got Sophia out, dragging out her diaper bag so that she wouldn't have to run back out to the car when and if Sophia made a mess or required one of the million different things that Carol had found she needed to have with her everywhere she went.

She put Sophia down and took her hand, allowing Sophia to set the pace of travel for them as they headed toward the porch.

While they walked toward the house, the front door opened and Daryl stepped out onto the porch, waving at Carol, something of a nervous smile on his face.

"You look good," he offered even before she reached the porch and she smiled. He was always quick to offer such a compliment…and it was something she wasn't entirely used to, but it was certainly something she could get used to.

"You look good yourself," she responded.

And he did. He'd changed and obviously showered since she'd seen him, dirty and dusty, at the shop.

Carol helped Sophia up the steps to the porch and moved toward Daryl's open arms. He pecked her on the lips and she smiled again. He looked as nervous as she felt, and oddly enough, that made her feel a little bit better.

"Dinner ain't gonna be ready for a bit," Daryl said. "Andrea got off work late…but she's cookin'…"

Carol nodded and glanced toward the house, but they were the only ones outside at the moment.

"That's fine," she said. "I think we'll both live…and I have cereal in a baggie if Sophia starts to show out."

Daryl chuckled and Carol figured it was likely because he knew exactly what she was talking about. Adults could be told that they had to wait for food…and even older kids could be told they had to wait…but Sophia was at the age where she waited only until she was done waiting and then there was simply no more that she would give without at least something to snack on.

"We go in?" Daryl asked.

Carol nodded.

"I can help…Andrea…if she needs it," Carol offered.

Daryl chuckled and pushed her toward the door.

"She might like that," he said. "Don't think they's nobody offered ta help her too damn much in years."

When Carol stepped into the house, she was surprised by how at home she felt all of a sudden. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but her mind had almost created the idea that she should be ready for something dramatic…something almost akin to a firing squad.

Instead, when she stepped inside she found the house full of the smell of food cooking and she found Merle, who she knew by sight now, sitting in a recliner with Russ on his lap, having some kind of conversation with the boy about something they'd obviously been talking about for at least a little while.

He glanced in her direction, stilling Russ's speech for a moment, and then laughed.

"So you ain't suckered out on us after all," Merle growled at Carol. "I'd get up…but I'm kinda pinned down right now so I'm just gon' be rude."

Carol shook her head quickly at the man.

"No…don't get up," she said.

And she meant it. She preferred things to stay like they were when she came in. She preferred the feeling of nothing special going on because that made her feel less self-conscious than she had in the car and she imagined it made her feel less self-conscious than she would if he'd gotten up.

Sophia wasn't self-conscious at all. She went straight over to the chair where the man she'd made friends with at the shop was sitting and called at him.

Merle looked over the side of the chair, grimacing a little when Russ changed his position and bony knees likely found all the sweet spots available to them, and then reached out a hand, tapping Sophia on the chin.

"Reckon you wanna get up here too?" Merle asked her.

Sophia looked at him wide eyed and then nodded her head, reaching up both her arms like she normally did in response to any question that involved her going "up".

Carol moved quickly from Daryl's side to get Sophia…the girl was too friendly for her own good sometimes and she didn't understand that some people didn't want to hold her or give her things or do whatever it was that she wanted from them.

In fact, the only person that she'd ever seemed to understand didn't "want her around" was Ed…and that was only because he'd made it more than clear on enough occasions that she'd eventually learned it as sure as she'd learned that certain words meant things like "food" or "hold" or "bath."

"Sophia…leave him alone," she said.

Merle looked at her, his smile fading a little.

"She's alright," he said. "She wanna sit up here…they's enough room…hell I ain't gon' bite her."

Carol shook her head, the cold wave of feeling coming over her that she might have accidentally insulted the man.

"I didn't mean…I just know that…" and she broke off, suddenly flustered enough that she wasn't sure how to continue or how to explain herself.

Merle chuckled, but it wasn't entirely sincere.

"You a lil' skittish, ain't'cha?" He asked.

Carol swallowed, not sure how to take such a comment. She started to sputter out some further explanation to what she'd said about Sophia leaving him alone, but she was interrupted by Daryl who came over quickly.

He scooped Sophia up, deposited her beside Russ on Merle's lap, and then spoke to his brother.

"Mind yaself," he said quickly and almost in a growl. Merle locked eyes with him a moment and then he chuckled again and turned to look back at Carol.

"Andrea's in the kitchen…" he said. "If you up for some hen peckin'…kid'll be alright."

Carol, not knowing what to say or what to do, simply nodded her head and then looked toward Daryl who was wearing something of an apologetic expression. He didn't say anything, though, about what had just happened. He simply pointed.

"Kitchen's in there if you wanna go," he offered.

Carol nodded her head. She did want to go in the kitchen for the moment. She'd never met Andrea and didn't know what to expect…but at the moment she would value any escape just to recover from her own embarrassment.

Carol found the kitchen with ease and stepped into it. There was a blonde that she assumed to be Andrea with her back to her, shuffling around at the stove and Carol cleared her throat to get the woman's attention without startling her too much.

Andrea turned and looked over her shoulder, a smile spreading across her face after a second. She moved, wiping her hands on the dish towel near her and then came toward Carol, holding her arms out for a hug instead of for a handshake like Carol had expected.

But at the moment, Carol was grateful for the hug, even if it came from a stranger, and she immediately felt better because of it.

"You must be Carol," Andrea said with something of breathy sigh. "I've heard a lot about you…"

Carol shook her head.

"Should I be worried?" She asked.

Andrea smiled and laughed a little to herself as she turned her attention back to the food that she was preparing.

"I think you know the answer to that," Andrea said.

"So you're the famous Andrea?" Carol responded back.

"Hardly famous," Andrea replied. "But…I am Andrea…also known as Anandrea…also known as bitch, depending on the day and the speaker."

She laughed to herself again and Carol sucked in a breath, glad to feel herself loosening up.

"Russ adores you," Carol offered. "I hear about you all the time from him…you're…almost divine."

Andrea laughed.

"Leave it to kids, right? To make you feel like you're something that you never even earned the right to be…he's pretty fond of you too, you know?" Andrea said.

Carol didn't know that. She had figured that Russ was at least comfortable with her…he'd proved that to her because he wasn't against her holding him or hugging him…but she hadn't really thought that the boy might talk about her when she wasn't around…certainly not to the famous and incomparable Anandrea.

"Can I help?" Carol asked.

Andrea looked at her and shook her head.

"Nah…really there's not much to do now," she said. "Just waiting for the chicken to cook, really."

As if to illustrate her point, she gave the pots on the stove a final stir, switched off one of the burners, and then leaned against the counter, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at Carol with her head tipped slightly to the side.

"Is everyone in there behaving?" Andrea asked, gesturing in the direction that Carol had just come from with her head.

Carol frowned.

"I think I offended your husband," Carol said. "I…didn't mean too…Sophia wanted to sit with him and I told her to leave him alone…"

Andrea nodded her head with understanding.

"If you offended Merle, then you managed to do something that most people can't do when they try," Andrea said. "Don't worry about it…but I will warn you…"

She broke off speaking for a moment and then seemed to commit to what she was going to say. When she resumed speaking, she'd lowered her voice so that the sound of it barely carried between the two of them.

"Don't take anything that Merle says to heart…ever…he lives to get a rise out of people," Andrea said. She shook her head. "He's really not…he's not a bad guy. He'd give you a kidney if he thought you needed it…but he just…"

She stopped again and shrugged.

"He just likes to get a rise out of people…" Andrea finished.

Carol felt a little better with that piece of information in her back pocket. Whether or not it was true, it would be a lot easier to take any interaction with the man if she believed that any time he was acting…harsh…was simply because he wanted to see her squirm a little.

She smiled and nodded her head at Andrea.

"That's good to know," she admitted.

Andrea smiled in response.

"I've got to meet Sophia…I've heard a lot about her too," Andrea said.

Carol smiled at the mention of her daughter.

"Well…she's in there…and I'm guessing she's behaving since I haven't heard any of the walls crashing down," Carol said.

"These walls have withstood Russ," Andrea said. "I guess they'll hold."

Carol gestured.

"I heard you're having twins…how far along are you?" She asked.

Andrea smiled and ran her hand around her stomach.

"Five months," she said. "We're almost to the point of letting ourselves get excited…picking out cribs…"

"Do you know if it's boys…girls?" Carol asked.

Andrea shook her head.

"No…not yet," she said. "We tried to find out…but they weren't turned right. We'll try again at…not at my next appointment…but the one after that. We don't really care, though."

"That's what we always say," Carol said. "But…honestly? I didn't care with Sophia…I was thrilled she was a girl…but I think I would have been just as thrilled with a boy."

Andrea nodded her head.

"As long as they're healthy," she said. "That's all that matters…the rest is just details…though I do like to tease Merle that they're both going to be little girls just because he'd rather have boys."

"He'll deal with it, right?" Carol said.

"That's the idea," Andrea said.

She picked up a kitchen timer off the counter and examined it before she moved to pull the oven door open and look in at the chicken that was cooking.

"We've probably got about fifteen more minutes," she said. "I hope you're not starving."

Carol shook her head.

"I think I'll make it," she said.

As a show to the woman that she wasn't in any kind of hurry, Carol leaned against the counter nearest her so that she could face Andrea and continue to make small talk while they waited for the food to be ready and the dinner to get underway, all the while hoping in the back of her mind that she was doing at least a decent job of proving to them, if that's what she was there for, that she wasn't some terrible person that Daryl should avoid like the plague.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"She is such a little cutie!" Andrea declared, watching as Sophia tried to stuff her face and Carol tried to simultaneously keep her from getting as much food in her mouth as she was striving to get in there. At the moment, with mashed potatoes and bits of chicken stuck to her face, Carol wasn't sure how cute her daughter could possibly look to anyone who hadn't carried her and delivered her.

"She don't talk much, though," Merle commented.

Carol glanced at him. He wasn't too much more refined of an eater than Russ or Sophia, so she assumed that maybe they weren't judging her two year old's table manners too harshly.

"But she can talk," Daryl offered.

Carol nodded.

"Oh yeah," she said. "She can talk…she just isn't very chatty, I guess. She talks when she feels like it."

Carol didn't want to admit that much of Sophia's life there had been so much contradictory commands around talking that she wasn't sure that her daughter could fully make heads or tails of it. She had always wanted, like all mothers, for Sophia to talk and show off her budding verbal communication skills…so she'd praised her for talking and chattering away about things that she wanted to talk about, but on the other hand she had felt like she needed the girl to be quiet as much as she could be around Ed so she'd hushed her a good deal whenever he was present.

As a result, Carol honestly worried that Sophia wasn't entirely sure if it was good or not to talk…though she didn't know how confused a two year old could actually be and she hoped that it was simply that Sophia was more of an observer and less of a talker for the most part.

"This one," Andrea said, looking at Russ who was sitting next to her, "seemed to start talking when he was six months old and I don't think we've slowed down too much yet."

Russ looked at her and furrowed his brow.

"Nah ah!" He protested. "Babies can't talk…I don't…"

Andrea cut him off before he could get wound up in his defense.

"We love your talking, Russ," Andrea said. "We'd be bored without it…I just meant that you like to talk…a lot."

"He gets that from Daryl," Merle offered.

And Carol snorted. She'd only been her about an hour at this point and she could already tell that of the brothers, Daryl wasn't the chatty one. He wasn't really quiet, per se, but he wasn't as verbose as his brother was.

"Russ is a good storyteller," Carol offered, looking at the little boy who was still looking around the table, brow furrowed, like he wasn't sure if he was taking offense from all of this.

He lightened up a little at that.

"In the car he kept me entertained today," Carol continued.

"I just like stories," Russ said, his face relaxing into the sideways smile he had before he went back to eating…now satisfied that what he was getting out of this was praise, even if he hadn't been sure before.

"Know who else likes tellin' stories?" Merle asked, cutting his eyes at Daryl.

Carol noticed Daryl fidget a little. He cleared his throat.

"Russ an' me…we tell stories ta each other," Daryl said. "That's all there is to it…ain't nothin' more'n that."

Carol smiled at him softly. She knew now about Russ's stories. The boy loved to be read to and he loved stories…and he especially loved whatever tale it was that Daryl was spinning just for him.

And Carol thought the whole thing was wonderful.

"I think it's nice that you and Russ share that," she said, sincerely.

And then she blushed because she realized how it had sounded when it came out of her mouth…she realized how her tone of voice had sounded…and she realized that she had everyone's attention and that Daryl looked a little pinker than he had before.

"So," Andrea said quickly, "Alice told me that you're a teacher?"

Carol nodded her head.

"Well…I will be," Carol offered. "I've got a job to start at the high school, but I've never taught before."

She made a face, hoping that it showed that she was a little bit nervous about the fact that she was about to start teaching. She wanted to teach, and it had been something that she'd wanted to do for most of her life, but it was a little nerve wracking now that it was right in front of her and it was something that she was genuinely going to be doing.

"I hated high school," Andrea said.

"Me too," Merle said.

Daryl looked at him.

"Ya didn't finish high school, asshole," Daryl commented. "You hardly ever even went."

Merle chuckled.

"Ya got me there," he said, reaching across the table in search of chicken. Andrea, without missing a beat, picked up a piece with her fingers and passed it to him in an effort to keep him from stretching all the way across the piece of furniture. "Worst damn three days a' my life, though."

Andrea had obviously been to college or she wouldn't be a nurse, but Carol wondered then if Daryl had finished high school. She couldn't remember if he'd ever mentioned it before or not. Both men worked at a shop, but she really didn't know enough about the business to know if it required an education. It didn't bother her one way or another, and that was probably why she couldn't remember if he'd ever said anything about it, but it made her realize that there were a lot of things she couldn't say with confidence about Daryl.

But the same was probably true for him as well.

And at least, at the moment, she felt like she was comfortable and pleased with the things that she could say with some confidence about him.

"Have you started a nursery for the babies?" Carol asked, jumping in and trying to keep conversation going, but feeling almost like she wasn't sure where to go with it.

Andrea nodded her head and then looked at Merle who was looking at her. Carol could see some kind of conversation passing back and forth between them, though it was silent.

"Well…I mean we have a nursery," Andrea offered after a moment, looking at Carol. "It's not really…ready…but…"

Carol felt like she'd picked the worst topic for conversation she could have chosen.

"Well, you have plenty of time," she offered, trying to undo her mistake.

Andrea smiled warmly and nodded her head.

"We have plenty of time," she repeated.

Carol relaxed more and more as dinner went on and as the conversation of afterwards, while everyone sat complaining at intervals about having eaten too much and complimenting Andrea on the meal, continued.

She liked Merle and Andrea, and as she was loosening up, she was understanding a little more of how they worked…and she was appreciating that they didn't really seem to be the kind to be too judgmental, even of her, beyond that which was fuel for the teasing that Merle thrived on.

When everyone seemed to think they had sat long enough, and the children were starting to squirm without food to entertain them, Daryl took to his feet first and excused himself to go outside and smoke. Merle got up, taking that as a good suggestion, to do the same.

"Sorry," Andrea said to the whole room instead of anyone in particular. "I don't have anything to offer for dessert."

"Uh huh!" Russ declared. "We got nanna popsicles…"

Andrea chuckled.

"You're right, Russ," Andrea said. "I didn't think of that…does anyone want banana popsicles?"

Both Daryl and Merle seemed to consider the offer of fruit flavored ice for a moment, but declined it and Carol watched as both of them left the kitchen and headed toward their destination, her stomach churning slightly at the thought that they might be talking about her when they went out there…and that she could only hope that what they had to say wouldn't be too bad.

"Do you want a popsicle?" Andrea asked, going to the freezer and pulling out a box. She put one on the counter and started to open another to hand to Russ who was already out of his seat and standing in front of her, a hand outstretched in anticipation of his sweet treat.

"No thanks," Carol said, freeing Sophia from the seat that was her friend while she was eating but was now seemed to be making her grow more and more annoyed.

As soon as Sophia's feet hit the ground, she went straight over to Andrea and Russ to investigate what they were eating. After all, she was never so full as to refuse more food.

"Want some!" She declared first to Russ and then to Andrea, seeing that her declaration only made Russ turn his back to her and put a few feet between them while he pretended not to hear her.

"Can she have one?" Andrea asked Carol.

Carol nodded.

"She can have some…but pass it to me," Carol said.

Andrea nodded and delivered one of the paper wrapped popsicles to Carol while Sophia continued to hover around her legs waiting to get one like Russ had.

"I know it's gross," Carol said, "but I still do the baby bird thing with her when it comes to popsicles. If she gets to hold the whole thing it's like she doesn't know what to do with it…she won't eat it and then it just melts everywhere. Soph…come here…Mommy's got your popsicle," Carol finished, biting off a piece of the popsicle and holding it out in her hand for Sophia to take and eat.

"I've got this thing for banana popsicles lately," Andrea said, leaning over the sink and eating hers.

Carol chuckled, biting off another piece for Sophia who was almost dancing for it as though it might be a reward for a performance well done.

"Cravings," Carol said. "I had this thing with raisins when I was pregnant with Sophia. Funny thing is, I really don't like raisins."

Andrea laughed.

"At least I liked banana popsicles to start with," Andrea said.

Carol watched as Russ, sticky handed, started to pull at Andrea's clothes to get her attention. Andrea leaned over, looking at him without speaking. Directing her attention in his direction, obviously, was all that he needed to feel that she was listening to him.

"Umm…" Russ said, half distracted by watching Sophia. "Umm…She…she's not old enough to eat nanna popsicles."

Andrea glanced at Carol with something of a smirk on her face and then back at Russ.

"Why not? Sophia can have banana popsicles if she wants them," Andrea said. "It looks like she's enjoying it as much as you are…"

"But she can't eat it like she's s'posed to!" Russ declared.

Carol almost laughed at his tone of voice because it registered somewhere between horrified and indignant that Andrea wasn't taking his side on this. He pointed a finger at Sophia while Carol handed her one of the last bites of the sticky, syrupy mess as though to illustrate his point.

"And?" Andrea asked. "You couldn't either…we used to feed them to you like that."

"No you didn't…" Russ declared.

Andrea chuckled and nodded her head dramatically.

"Yes we did…you've eaten a lot more food that I've bit before you than you even realize. Now…chew on that for a moment and finish your popsicle. You're dripping and it's a mess," Andrea said.

Carol watched as Andrea took the sticky, gooey stick from Russ once he'd bitten off the remainder of the sweet and tossed it into the trash can. She got a rag, wet it, and then mopped him clean before she rinsed it and offered it to Carol.

Carol cleaned Sophia up and let Sophia go with Russ when Andrea told him to go into the living room and play with her.

And it was only then that Carol bothered to speak again while she helped Andrea start clearing plates, despite the woman's insistence that she was a guest and didn't have to help.

"You've really been…a mother to Russ, haven't you?" Carol asked, keeping her voice low so that they wouldn't be overheard by anyone in the living room.

Andrea shrugged.

"Maybe," she said. "I've just been Aunt Andrea…I don't know…I guess I don't know how to be anything to Russ except Aunt Andrea."

Andrea went back to the table for more dishes, having given up her protesting about the ones that Carol was washing while she scraped them and put food into containers destined for the refrigerator.

"You would have had to know what it was like for Daryl in the beginning," Andrea said. She shook her head, though not at anything in particular. "When Heather left…when she did what she did…it devastated him. And then…he was there with Russ…and he didn't know what to do. And I didn't know what to do and Merle didn't know what to do…but I guess that we all just figured that if the three of us together couldn't figure out how to raise a child, then there just wasn't any way to raise one."

Carol smiled softly to herself. She could imagine the three of them, now that she knew Merle and Andrea a little better, all feeling their way through raising this boy.

"He's turned out wonderful," Carol said. "How does he feel…or what does he know…about his mother?"

Andrea shook her head.

"Not much," she said. "Daryl's just always wanted to teach him that families are different…you know? Some have mothers and fathers…some have fathers…some have mothers…"

"Some have Aunt Andreas and Uncle Merles?" Carol offered.

Andrea laughed softly.

"That too," she said. "They're just…different. I'm sure he'll talk to him more about it when he's older…when he starts asking the big questions, but until now he honestly hasn't even asked about her…he hasn't asked why he doesn't have a mother…nothing."

Carol nodded her head.

She didn't offer the information up at the moment, but she was surprised at how close she came to doing so. She started to tell Andrea that Sophia was probably going to be the same way…except for the fact that she, at least in a very rudimentary way, understood what "Daddy" was. And that was what made it all the more interesting to Carol that in the time that she'd been gone, Sophia hadn't once bothered to even utter the word, even though she'd used it before.

But Carol stopped herself. She might share more of that…more of her life and more of the not so pleasant details of the existence she and Sophia shared with Ed…but for as comfortable as she did feel with the Dixons, she wasn't sure that they needed all of that information all at once…not before they'd really settled into what they thought of her.


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter here.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Daryl opened the door and commanded Russ to get in and buckle up, something the little boy was quite adept at for his age in Carol's opinion. She stood over to the side, holding Sophia still, while the little girl leaned on her shoulder and hummed at her, a sure sign that she'd be asleep before they even got back to the house.

After dinner things had gone well with conversation and Sophia and Russ entertaining them all by dragging out every toy known to man that Russ had in a toy box in the corner of Andrea and Merle's living room.

At first, Russ had been reluctant to share with Sophia, but after Andrea pretended to be horrified and grossly disappointed in his attitude, he'd become quite the little gentleman, offering Sophia all the toys simultaneously and calling out at intervals to make sure that everyone…especially Andrea…saw how good he was at sharing. And Carol, along with everyone else, had a hard time keeping a straight face at the boy's antics.

Russ got into his seat and held something out to Daryl who was leaning on the vehicle and making sure that it would be safe to shut him in soon.

"Can I have this?" Russ asked.

"No," Daryl said. Then he shook his head and held his hand out. "What the hell is it?"

Carol never knew what it was, but after examining it a moment, Daryl handed it back to Russ.

"Yeah…you can have it…now just hold tight," he said. He closed the door, leaving the little boy and whatever prize he had in the car, and then he turned to Carol, following her to her car where she started to buckle Sophia, who was unhappy with being put down and starting to cry, into her seat.

"You comin' back ta the house?" Daryl asked as he hovered around Carol.

She dug around in the cupholder of Sophia's seat and produced a pacifier that she kept there for just such an occasion and passed it to Sophia so that she'd squirm and fuss less. She was fine…there was nothing wrong with her, and Carol knew that. She had simply had a good time, gotten tired, and now she was going to be ill until she got to go to sleep.

Carol turned around as soon as Sophia was buckled in, leaving the door open so that Sophia didn't fuss even more for feeling ignored and made a face at Daryl.

"I have to work tomorrow…Friday…workday, you know?" She said with a teasing tone. Daryl smirked at her.

"So…had ta work this mornin' too?" Daryl said. "Everythin' turned out OK."

"I didn't bring any clothes with me," Carol said. "I intended to go back to my house…"

Now it was Daryl who made the face, and Carol bit her lip not to laugh at the fact that he and Russ had exactly the same expression of disappointment. It was a look that clearly showed they were disappointed, but it had something else to it…it had an element of "how oh how could you do this to me?" tucked in there as well.

Daryl reached his hand and ran his thumb across the car, looking at it as though there were more to look at than just dirt.

"How 'bout…you go get'cha clothes?" Daryl asked.

Carol made a face and motioned toward Sophia who had stopped crying and was humming again, looking drunk almost as she leaned in her seat and waited for whatever was about to happen to her.

"She's tired, Daryl," Carol said. She shook her head. "If I drive her around…try to get her out of the car and then back in? She's going to have a fit. It's better if we just go home and she goes to bed."

Daryl continued with the face of earlier.

"You could go get'cha clothes in the mornin'," Daryl offered. "Get up a lil' early…get ready, everythin' but'cha clothes…go change. Ya house ain't that far from the school, you said it yaself."

Carol shook her head again.

"But Hershel Greene's farm is a pretty good distance from the school, and from my house. I don't want to be running all over the place first thing in the morning," Carol said.

"So ya don't," Daryl said. "Sophia can wear what she's got…Jo Greene's got a whole mess a' play clothes for the kids 'cause that's all they need anyway…and I can take her an' Russ ta Jo's while you go home an' get'cha clothes an' go ta work."

Carol raised her eyebrows at him.

"So let me get this straight," she said. "You're offering to get the kids ready in the morning…with limited help from because I'll be getting ready…and take both of them to the Greene farm so that I can go and change clothes…just because you want me to stay tonight?"

Daryl blushed a little in the failing light and smiled the sideways grin, but he didn't say anything. He nodded slightly, but he wasn't giving any verbal commitment to this.

Carol smiled and raised her eyebrows at him again.

"Are you that," she lowered her voice, but she was convinced that no one was paying them any attention whatsoever and couldn't have heard them if she hadn't bothered to lower her voice, "horny?"

Daryl made a face at her and shook his head before he broke into the laugh that he'd been holding back.

"No…I just…like ya ass around," he said. "We go back ta the house now an' she's out right away…Russ, he ain't gon' be up too long…then we get like an hour before we go ta bed…"

"Mmmm," Carol hummed, deciding now to tease him. "So yes…you are. Because you're volunteering to have quite the morning…"

Daryl shrugged.

"Hell…what kinda mornin'? Doin' the same damn thing I gotta do anyway with Russ, just throwin' Sophia in there too. Ain't like it's gonna be some big surprise ta me," Daryl said. "You survived takin' both this mornin', didn't you?" Daryl said.

Carol sucked in a breath and looked back at her child who was, for the most part, asleep, but not asleep enough yet to drop the pacifier.

"I'm spending the night a lot with you…people are going to talk," Carol said.

Daryl chuckled.

"What people?" He asked.

He nodded his head in the direction of the house and Carol realized that Merle and Andrea, if they realized that they hadn't left yet were probably wondering what the hell was going on in their yard.

"Them? They ain't gon' say shit," Daryl said. "Hell…they just decided they first date was a date after they went on the next on…first date was a one night stand, but it didn't take."

Carol shook her head slightly and chewed her lip. What he was proposing could very well work…Sophia seemed fond enough of him that she really doubted that she'd give him any trouble taking her to the Greene farm, especially not if she were bribed with something like a sippy cup of milk and the promise of something to pet and hold when she got there.

And Alice hadn't really said anything to her about Daryl. Alice was rarely home and when she was home she was pretty much dedicated to not doing too much that was exciting. Work took it out of her and her few days off here and there were precious to her. If anything, she was promoting that Carol go and do and be with Daryl.

And Carol liked being with him. She liked that he was easy to be with. There wasn't a lot of expectation there. She didn't feel like there was some kind of ideal that she had to live up to. He didn't seem to have any grand expectations of her, and if he did he hadn't let her know about them, beyond the fact that she would actually just be there.

But she couldn't stop the guilty feeling that she was so newly separated and here she was, having spent more nights with Daryl than she'd spent without him lately. She almost felt like she needed to pull the reins in on the whole thing…like she needed to tell him that it wasn't right and it wasn't proper and it they were moving too fast. But she couldn't bring herself to do it because it wasn't what she wanted. If she did it, she would be doing it entirely because of appearances…and so far, she couldn't figure out who exactly she was afraid of judging her too harshly.

"What about the Greenes?" She asked. "What are they going to say?"

The Greenes…they seemed like really wholesome people, not the kind to approve of a newly single mother spending all her nights with a man while her two year old slept in a portable crib.

Daryl chuckled.

"Hershel an' Miss Jo?" He asked.

Carol nodded her head.

"They ain't gonna say nothin'," Daryl said. "Hell…they been married since dinosaurs roamed around…but they don't have too much ta say 'bout nobody that ain't hurtin' nobody else."

He sighed.

"Fine…" he said. He shrugged. "You don't wanna come over…don't come over…but I wish you'd just say ya don't wanna come an' don't tell me it's 'cause some damn body's lookin' at us cross-eyed. I've heard a lotta people talk an' I've heard all kinda shit they can come up with ta say…but I can tell ya somethin'…besides hurtin' my feelin's from time ta time? Ain't really done shit ta me."

Carol sighed to echo the sound that he'd made.

"I know…that it shouldn't matter what people think," she said. "But…I can't help but worry what people are going to say…and I don't want that to do anything at all to affect my divorce."

Daryl shook his head.

"You ain't gotta explain," he said. "You don't wanna come, don't come."

He leaned to offer a kiss to Carol and she took it, but she could tell from the way that he kissed her that he didn't entirely mean what he said. Yes, it was "fine" that she was saying that she wasn't going over…but he wasn't happy with it at all and he wasn't great at hiding his feeling, no matter how much he might think he was.

He accepted the peck from her, though, shoved his hands down in his pockets and started toward his vehicle again where Russ was waiting, possibly asleep by now as well or either entertained with the lifetime supply of toys in the car.

"Daryl…" Carol said, catching his attention. He stopped and turned back to look at her. "I'll follow you?"

Daryl smiled and then quickly and purposefully wiped the smile off his face. He nodded his head without offering a single word and then turned back to his car. Carol closed Sophia's door as gently as she could and she got in the car, sucking in a breath and wondering if she was doing the right thing or if she was making a mistake by letting things go so fast so soon.

She picked up her phone, checked for messages, and found that Alice had texted her, asking if she was coming home or not. She texted her back that she was going to Daryl's house, again, and didn't wait for any kind of response…not that she really expected one. She knew that Alice was just checking in…and if there were some kind of emergency or something she would have called and not just texted.

Carol cranked the car and followed Daryl out of his brother's driveway, glancing in the rearview mirror just long enough to see that Sophia had fallen asleep so well that she'd lost her pacifier and was now slumped in her seat, mouth open, apparently uncaring that she would spend yet another night in the living room of Daryl's tiny house, curled up asleep in a travel crib.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"So…the kids are asleep," Carol said. "I suppose you've got plans?"

Daryl heard the clank of her toothbrush, or rather the one that he'd dug through and found in a drawer from the last time he went to the dentist and given to her because she'd complained that yet another reason she should have gone home was that she'd taken her toothbrush home.

Daryl sat on the bed and watched her as she came out of the little bathroom wearing his t shirt and stood in the doorway between the tiny room and the bedroom.

"Why you say it like that?" He asked.

"Like what?" She asked, her voice assuming an innocence that Daryl was positive hadn't been there before.

He furrowed his brows at her.

"Say it like I got plans you ain't got…like I'm bossin' you around," he responded. "You don't wanna sleep with me, you ain't gotta. Ain't like we gotta have sex, you know?"

Carol sighed but she didn't come any closer to him. She shifted her weight and remained leaning against the doorway.

"And if I said I don't want to? Then what?" Carol asked.

Daryl shrugged at her.

"Then…we do somethin' else?" He asked.

He had a feeling this was a trick or something and he wasn't at all sure that he knew how to play games with women like Carol.

Heather had been a very different type of woman. She wasn't given to games because, at least so Daryl thought, she wasn't smart enough for them. And that hadn't really ever been the nature of anything that had happened between them anyway.

But he knew that Andrea was pretty damn good at trapping Merle's ass in things...and even though Daryl didn't exactly think his brother was the smartest man on Earth, he wasn't going to assume that he was all that much smarter than he was.

"And you're going to pout?" Carol asked, tipping her head to the side. "Or…are you going to…not want to kiss me?"

Daryl just sat there for the moment. He didn't make any move to respond. Finally, though, seeing that Carol wasn't going to say anything else until he said something, he decided to speak.

"You ain't gotta have sex with me if you don't wanna," Daryl said. "I don't know what the right answer ta the question you askin' is supposed ta be…but that's all I got. You don't wanna…we ain't gotta."

Carol made a face at him.

"Could we talk instead?" She asked.

Daryl hesitated a moment simply because he wasn't sure this was going to be the kind of talk that he was going to like very much, judging from her tone of voice, but finally he nodded his head. He patted the bed next to him.

"You wanna at least sit down first? Or you gonna stand on the other side a' the room the whole time?" Daryl asked.

Carol came over and sat on the edge of the bed, one of her legs folded under her. She was chewing at her bottom lip. Apparently what she had to say was important, but it looked like she was having a hard time getting it out.

"You go first," Daryl said. "You chewin' on it, so spit it out."

She sighed.

"I know that I said earlier that people will talk," Carol said, "and they might…but I think we're…or we might be…moving too fast."

Daryl chewed his lip in response.

"We is or we might be?" He asked.

"What do you think?" Carol asked.

Daryl shrugged and chuckled ironically to himself.

"I think everythin's just fine," Daryl said. "Hell…what's wrong with it?"

Carol frowned.

"What's wrong with it is…Daryl I just got out of a marriage…a bad one," Carol said. "I just...just…left my husband."

Daryl didn't speak, he just waited for her to continue on. She watched him a moment before she apparently realized it was still her turn.

"Daryl…I like you…a lot…and that makes me want to do things that you want me to do," Carol said. "It makes me want to make you happy."

Daryl nodded his head.

"So you doin' things ta make me happy," Daryl said, "but you ain't happy?"

Carol shook her head.

"I didn't say that," she said. "I don't even know if I know the answer to that."

Daryl chuckled.

"You don't know if you happy?" He asked.

Carol made a face like this was the hardest thing in the world for her to figure out. She looked like this was the most complicated conversation two living people could have, and Daryl thought it was pretty damn complicated himself, but he felt like it was her who had started it and it was her who had decided this was how the conversation would go. He figured if either of them got to make that face of confusion and concern, it should be him and not her.

"I don't know what makes me happy anymore," Carol said. "I think that I'm happy…yes…but I…think we're moving too fast. I think we need to slow down…we need to..."

She broke off and took a breath.

"I know that I just got out of a bad marriage, Daryl," Carol said. "And I know that the divorce isn't even close to being finalized…I don't know what Ed might do or what he might try to do…and I know that Sophia deserves a space where it's hers…a space where she's good and she she's right and she's allowed to be Sophia…"

Daryl hoped that he was doing a better job of controlling his facial expression than he thought he might be doing at the moment.

"You got outta bad marriage…I got that part," Daryl said. "An' so you gotta go through the divorce…so what? They ain't nothin' he can do ta you. And Sophia? She can't be Sophia here? 'Cause other than Russ I ain't heard too many people tell she couldn't do what she pleased…an' he's just got…well…she's the first damn person he's been bigger than…but I can talk to him."

Carol shook her head slightly.

"I mean that I was going to get my own place, Daryl…when I worked for a little while and saved up money. I was going to live with Alice…and Sophia's got her own room there. It's small, but it's her room…and then I was going to get my own place. I was going to live on my own. I've never lived on my own," Carol said.

"Ain't much to it," Daryl said, glancing around his bedroom. "Same thing as livin' with somebody 'cept you ain't got nobody ta talk to. Nothin' special."

"What do you want out of this, Daryl?" Carol asked after a second.

"This conversation?" Daryl asked. "I'd kinda like it to come with directions at this point."

Carol smiled, but Daryl could tell that she hadn't meant to.

"This…you…me…me staying here with you how many nights has it been? What do you want out of this?" Carol asked.

Now it was Daryl's turn to shake his head slightly.

"I like you stayin' with me," he said. "I like you bein' here…that's what I want outta this."

"You just want me to keep staying with you?" Carol asked.

Daryl shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah…I guess that's what I want outta this…you stayin' here," he said.

"So are we talking long term? Are we talking marriage?" Carol asked. "Because…we've got Russ and we've got Sophia to think about and what if we get six months down the road and then something happens and…someone changes their mind?"

"Are you talkin' about marriage?" Daryl asked.

"I just got out of…" Carol started.

"Yeah…got it…you just got out a bad marriage," Daryl said. "I weren't the one throwin' the word around, you know? But you brought it up…"

"I asked you what you were thinking," Carol responded.

Daryl sat there in silence a moment, thinking over the question and actually trying to figure out what he was thinking, because until now he hadn't really sat down to sort it out. But if she was asking, the least he could do was answer her.

And she remained in silence too because she wanted the answer.

When Daryl finally felt like he was ready to answer, though, he only hoped it was the right answer.

"Only time in my life I ever thought about marriage before was with Heather," he said. "An'…when I asked her ta marry me she was already pregnant with Russ…an' I thought I'd gone and got her knocked up an' I weren't gon' be the asshole kinda dad. I was gonna do right by her. So I asked her ta marry me…an' I figured we'd make it work."

He paused a moment, and Carol moved a little closer to him on the bed.

"But she didn't want to marry you?" Carol asked.

He shook his head.

"Nah…turned me down," Daryl said. "Said she weren't interested in marriage…said it wouldn't work," Daryl said. He shook his head. "Hell…I don't know if it woulda worked or if we'da gone belly up tryin'. Then…she left when Russ was borned an' I…well…I ain't gon' say I ain't thought about it none since then, but it's been…a whole lot different."

Daryl wasn't sure, but it looked like Carol was relaxing. She'd been pretty stiff and straight earlier, but now her shoulders were starting to lean forward, she was starting to lean toward him a little and it looked like she was sitting in a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Different how?" She asked.

Daryl laughed then.

"Different, different…you did notice I got a kid, right? That's pretty damn different," he said.

"So you thought you couldn't get married or what?" Carol asked.

Daryl scratched at the back of his neck.

"Mostly the or what, I reckon," Daryl said. "There was a long damn time there…right after Heather was up an' gone…that I thought…I fucked it up, you know? They was somethin' 'bout me that she didn't like…somethin' that was so damn bad she wouldn't marry me an' she flew the coup, leavin' Russ behind too. An'…hell…looked ta me like any asshole could get married."

He stopped and laughed.

"My brother was married…that was proof enough," Daryl said.

He broke off, not wanting to go on with the story anymore. He waited quietly, but Carol was still staring at him. She was still waiting intently for him to say something more…even though he didn't want to talk anymore.

He was glad, though, that at least while he was talking she wasn't running circles with her words that boggled his brain as much as trying to keep up with one of Russ's stories ever had.

"I just figured I weren't the marryin' kind," Daryl said. "An' Andrea an' Merle…an' hell any damn body else that knowed Heather…they said it was her weren't the marryin' kind…so I thought about it, but I ain't thought about it since then…'cause I just weren't sure I was the marryin' kind…and I weren't sure I was ever gonna be any damn good at findin' a woman that wasn't like Heather."

Now it was Carol's turn to laugh somewhat ironically. She moved, then, completely onto the bed and got close enough to him that their legs were brushing together. He could have easily reached out and wrapped his arms around her…he could have easily pulled her to him…but he wasn't going to do that right now. He wasn't sure, anymore, if she'd appreciate that at all.

"But you think I'm the marrying kind?" Carol asked.

"I told you," Daryl said, "I ain't thought about it. I mean…hell…obviously you the marryin' kind…but I ain't thought about it."

"You've had a lot more time to think about it than I have," Carol said. "You've…had four years since Heather…you've had four years of you and Russ…just being you and Russ. I haven't even had four months."

Daryl felt his stomach flop.

Suddenly he thought he understood what she was saying, at least to some degree.

And maybe she was right. Maybe he hadn't really thought too much about how she might feel right now. Because if he remembered back to how he'd been right after Heather had disappeared and Russ was just a newborn? He wouldn't have been within a hundred miles of another woman if she wasn't happily married to some other man.

"You…uh…you don't wanna see me no more at all…or…what is it exactly that'cha want?" Daryl asked. "I'm supposed ta…wait…or somethin' ta call ya?"

Carol shook her head.

"It's not that…it's not about not seeing you…I think it's more about me having time to think, Daryl," Carol said. "Just a little time to figure out what's going on…figure out where my life is going from here…get started good in my new job. We get students on Wednesday…figure out how my divorce is going. It's not about not seeing you…but I think that I need a little time to breathe."

Daryl nodded his head.

"Oh…OK…" he said.

He didn't really know how else to respond.

"Don't be upset," Carol said, something like pleading in her voice. "I'm talking about…dating you…seeing you…maybe spending the night sometimes…but just slowing it down. We went from one date to I feel guilty if I don't spend the night with you even though I wanted to go home. That's just too much for me right now."

Daryl nodded his head again.

"Yeah…alright…I get it," he said. "I…uh…I'll still take Sophia in the mornin'…so you can get ready for work an' all…"

Carol frowned at him.

"Daryl…I'm not trying to break up with you," Carol said.

"No…I mean you got a point," Daryl said. "I just don't particularly wanna talk about it no more tonight. We both gotta get up real early…an' I think we said 'bout all there is ta say tonight."

To illustrate his point that he considered the conversation done, and he really did feel like he had about all that he wanted to think about for one night under his belt, Daryl slid down and got under the cover.

Carol nodded her head for a moment, watching him, and then she got up from the bed and went to switch the bathroom light off before she returned, crawled under the covers next to Daryl but without touching him or saying anything else, and switched off the bedside lamp.


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol stepped back out into the hallway of the school building for what was probably the fourth time in less than half an hour. She'd arranged and rearranged everything in the classroom so many times that she was beginning to annoy herself.

It was an open house night before they got the students they'd be teaching and if everything had gone the way it was planned, they were supposed to meet with parents, meet the students, and have a chance to discuss with the parents what would be expected of their kids in the classes throughout the year.

Carol had been so excited about it that she'd carefully picked out her outfit, called the Greene girl to keep Sophia, and come early so that she could go so far as to print out something in the way of fliers to hand out to the parents so that they would know what to expect in addition to the supply lists she prepared and printed to hand out to the students.

Her classroom was as perfect as she could get it, and thanks to a few of the other English teachers from the lower grades, the small school sporting almost all the grades in a variety of buildings spread out over what was once, undoubtedly, farmland, she had everything she needed. They'd all visited and brought her something…things they didn't need or didn't want…to get things in order.

In fact, tonight the only thing she was missing were the parents and the students.

That's why she kept making the trek to the hallway. She kept checking to see if she was alone in the building or if a parent might have come after all. She would have felt self-conscious or even paranoid if there were signs of anyone having come at all, to see other teachers or visit other classrooms, but it appeared that she wasn't the only without company.

While she walked a small circle in front of her classroom door, thinking to herself how much time was left and running over whether or not she really, truly had everything ready for the next day, she noticed another of the teachers, her "next door neighbor" so to speak, come and peek out of his classroom, probably checking to see if the footsteps echoing in the empty hallway belonged to a parent or a student or someone of interest who had wandered over to hear the spill that he'd prepared for them.

Carol didn't know his name, and she wished she was better with names because it seemed like everyone knew her already and she didn't know any of them.

She smiled at him, though, and spoke.

"Is it always this empty?" She asked.

The man stepped out of his classroom then, smiling, his hands in his pockets. He was dressed nice, perhaps a touch more casual than she was at the moment, but she'd wanted to make a good impression.

He walked over to where she was and rocked on his feet.

"I've only been here two years," he said. "But, yes…it's always this quiet. I think in the two years I've been here…I've seen maybe four parents on the open class night."

Carol frowned.

"Why don't they come?" She asked. "You'd think that you'd want to know what your kids are going to be doing…who their teachers are…"

He chuckled.

"Well…they show up," he said. "But they come for the little ones…the younger kids. If you walk around you'll see the other buildings are pretty busy. I guess by the time we get them their parents figure that they're old enough to handle all of this all on their own and the students are enjoying their last night of summer freedom."

"I guess you're right," Carol said.

The man whose name she still didn't know, walked toward her classroom and stuck his head in, looking around.

"Looks like you've been hard at work," he said.

Carol smiled and started toward him and the open door.

"Look around," she said. "Someone should see it before the students destroy it tomorrow."

He laughed and walked into the classroom, glancing around and making a tour around the space. He stopped in front of one of the posters…a poster of Shakespeare…hung on the wall that another teacher had left and Carol had made use of.

"It looks good," he said. "English?"

Carol nodded, walking over and leaning on her desk.

"That's me," she said. "I hope I'm ready for this."

The man walked over and leaned slightly on her desk.

"You're ready," he said.

"You don't even know me," Carol responded. "You don't know if I can even read."

He laughed and nodded his head.

"True," he responded. "But you'll be ready. It won't be that bad. The kids here are pretty good kids, on the whole. You won't really see any of the parents…not until the end of the year, and then only if there's some kind of problem."

Carol made a face and shook her head.

"I'm hoping there are no problems," she said.

"Don't we all?" He responded.

"I'm sorry," Carol said apologetically. "What was your name again? I'm trying to learn everyone's names but I'm so bad at it…"

He smiled.

"Philip Blake," he said, offering her a hand to shake. "You can call me Philip, but all the little ones call me Mr. Blake. I teach History."

Carol shook her head and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Philip," Carol said. "I'm Carol…Ms. McAlister…History, huh? Interesting…"

He shook his head.

"Not really, and not when you're a teenager…what do you need to know history for when the only thing that's important to you is who asked who to the prom and who you're going to eat lunch with today?" Philip responded.

Carol nodded.

"Truth is…it doesn't change too much when you're older," Carol said.

Philip glanced around again and reached behind where Carol had settled to lean on her desk. He picked up the picture frame there. It had been a gift that Alice had gotten made for her, since she didn't have any recent pictures of Sophia, so that she could have the little girl with her while she was at work.

Philip looked at the picture and then glanced at Carol and smiled, balancing the frame in one hand before he gave it a final look and put it on the desk.

"Your daughter?" He asked.

Carol smiled and nodded.

"I knew," he said. "She looks like you."

"That's what I hear," Carol said with a smile. "Sophia…she's two."

Philip reached around and produced a wallet from his back pocket that he flicked open and flipped through, finding a photo and holding it out to Carol. From the picture, obviously one of those school pictures taken once a year, a little girl missing teeth smiled at her.

"Penny," Philip said. "She's six and going on sixteen."

Carol laughed and offered him the picture back so that he could return it to his wallet.

"She's pretty," Carol said.

"She looks like her mother," Philip said, glancing at the picture quickly before closing the wallet and returning it to his back pocket.

"What does your wife do?" Carol asked, searching for anything to keep conversation going. She had at least an hour to kill before they were supposed to leave and she wasn't sure what else she could make up to keep herself busy and kill the time.

Philip made a face and Carol immediately felt like she'd said something she wasn't supposed to say, thought she wasn't sure why. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, it's not my business," she said.

He shook his head and offered something of a reassuring smile, holding a hand up to stop her.

"It's fine," he said. "My wife…she passed about a year ago. Car accident."

Carol felt her stomach drop with the information and with his facial expression.

"I'm so sorry," Carol offered, even though she knew that words like that were worth very little.

"It's fine," he said. "Honestly…it gets easier…"

Carol just nodded her head since they were clearly in the territory where he didn't know what to say and neither did she.

"Um…your husband?" Philip asked after a moment, fidgeting with the paperclips in the paperclip tray on the corner of the desk.

"I'm going through a divorce," Carol said.

"I'm sorry then," Philip said.

She shook her head at him.

"Don't be," she said with a smile. "Honestly…it would be better to say sorry about the marriage than the divorce."

He laughed lightly at her joke.

"So it's just you and what was your daughter's name?" Philip asked.

"Sophia," Carol said. "And…it's us. We live with a friend of mine. I'm hoping that it won't be too long before I can look for my own place…somewhere around here. I don't know the area well."

Philip nodded.

"To rent or to buy?" He asked.

Carol shrugged.

"I honestly haven't decided yet…" She admitted.

Philip smiled and nodded again.

"Well…buying's the best idea if you're planning on staying around for a while," he said. "If you're not sure about staying…obviously you'll want something more temporary. Let me know…I might know of some places you could look at."

Carol thanked him and offered a smile.

She hated to admit it, but she was chewing over what she should look into. Buying was a thought, but in the back of her mind she just didn't know how things would work out with Daryl. If things were serious there, then buying a house…unless she was buying a much larger house than just she and Sophia needed…might end up being something that just ended up being a bigger hassle down the line.

But if things didn't work out, then renting might very well seem like a waste of time. She didn't want to keep living with Alice forever, though. Even though her friend didn't seem to mind at all and certainly wasn't complaining about her presence in the house, Carol wanted to feel like she had some independence…she wanted to feel like she could at least live alone if she wanted to, and she wasn't going to get that mooching off of Alice and living in her house forever.

Carol had only briefly mentioned her dilemma over the house to Alice, but Alice seemed to think that the best idea was that Carol buy a house…and Carol didn't want to admit, not yet, that she was wondering how things might go with Daryl and was letting that be something that was keeping her, and causing her more than a little bit of something like guilt in the process, from committing to looking at a house to buy instead of simply one to rent.

But she didn't feel that Philip Blake, a person that she hardly knew, needed to know in how many directions her thoughts were divided at the moment…especially not when she still wasn't admitting everything to Alice and she trusted her with everything.

"I'll let you know," she said, "when I decide. I'm sure it's going to take me a bit to feel like I've got enough money coming in…to feel like things are stable enough…to even start looking."

He smiled again and nodded.

"Well…there are some nice places around," he said. "Especially if you're interested in doing a little fixing up. It's trickier if you want it to be perfect when you move in."

"I'm not afraid of hard work," Carol asserted.

"For some reason," Philip responded with a smile, "I wouldn't think you were."

Carol sighed and glanced in the direction of the clock. She was excited about this night, or at least she had been, but now she was just feeling disappointed that no one had come and anxious to get home to Sophia.

"Ready to go?" Philip asked.

Carol nodded.

"I'm not used to being away from my daughter," she admitted. "I know I'm going to get used to it, but…it's almost her bedtime. She'll be asleep when I get home."

Philip glanced at the clock too.

"You should go ahead and go," he said. "No one's coming if they haven't come yet."

Carol chewed her lip.

"I don't want to get in trouble…" She admitted.

He chuckled.

"Walk down the hall," he said. "You'll see…there's hardly anyone here but us. The die hards don't even come sometimes for these things. No one says anything. I'm heading out myself in about half an hour…I've got a few things to get ready for tomorrow. I don't like to stay late if I can avoid it."

Carol glanced at the clock again.

"I think I might head out," she said. "I guess I can swing by the main office…see who's there and show my face."

Philip winked at her.

"Make sure that a few people have seen your face and you're good to go," he said.

He stood up and started out of the classroom and Carol walked around her desk to find her purse so she could head out and see if it really would be fine to cut out on what was left of a failed night of meeting parents.

"I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow," Philip said, his hand on the doorframe.

Carol smiled at him.

"I'm sure you will…bright and early!" She said.

He chuckled and pointed at her.

"That enthusiasm," he said, "it's cute…I hope it lasts for you. This profession has a way of jading people."

Carol sighed and nodded. She could see that just from how the first night was making her feel, but she was determined to keep her spirits as high as she could.

"I'll hang onto it for a bit," she said. "Get your work done…I'll see you tomorrow."

Philip didn't say anything else and he disappeared out the door, calling a goodnight to her and then dissolving into whistling some kind of song that faded as he must have reached his room and stepped inside.

Carol took one last trip around her classroom and determined that everything was perfect and ready for her first day of work, and then she started out the door with her purse slung over her shoulder, hoping she would make it home in time to put Sophia to bed herself.


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I'm putting this on all my fics as I go along updating. In a few days there are going to be big changes for me involving, mostly, being around other people and doing (hopefully) all kinds of stuff and thangs for a while…so that means that my updates will happen here and there when I can write them. It's hard to say how frequent or how spread out. I just wanted everyone to know that I'm not abandoning anything, I'm just writing when and where I can. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!**

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"Russ…son…eat'cha food…stop playin' with it," Daryl said, reaching over and readjusting Russ's plate for the third time. "Don't'cha touch that mat again or I'ma pop ya."

Russ sighed and picked at the chicken.

Daryl had gotten the recipe from Andrea. The reason that he'd asked for the recipe was because when she made it, Russ ate it like it was the best thing that he'd ever tasted in his life. Now, though, he was more or less acting like Daryl was trying to make him eat something that was far too suspicious for human consumption.

"I don't like that," Russ said, pointing at something.

"That, what?" Daryl asked. "That's rosemary…an' ya do like it…you eat this same damn type a' chicken at'cha Aunt Andrea's an' Uncle Merle's house."

"Nah ah…" Russ protested.

Daryl stared at him.

"Russ…the only difference between this chicken an' that'cha eat that Andrea makes it that she ain't spit in this chicken," Daryl said.

Russ made a face at Daryl that showed he might be slightly horrified by the suggestion.

"Anandrea don't spit in food!" Russ declared.

Daryl chuckled.

"It's an expression…she ain't touched it…spit in it…stuck her finger in it…means that the only thing makes it better ta you when she makes it is that she's there…she's the one who made it," Daryl explained. "Don't mean she literally spits in food an' she'll have a heart attack if you say she do."

Russ was trying Daryl's nerves tonight and really it wasn't his fault. Daryl was, and he knew this, more touchy than usual simply because he was bothered by the fact that he felt like he couldn't call Carol…and he wanted to. It hadn't helped that Russ had started talking about Sophia, who he saw at Miss Jo's, just as soon as Daryl had put him in the truck and had started asking if Miss Carol was going to come over…if Sophia was going to spend the night with him.

And Daryl didn't know if he was supposed to call or not.

Carol needed her space, and Daryl understood that…he'd never gotten out of a divorce before, but he'd gotten out of a bad relationship.

The only difference was that when he'd gotten out of his relationship with Heather, he hadn't wanted space at all. He'd wanted any and every one he knew to invade his space…especially if they knew what to do with the newborn baby he'd acquired.

And he hadn't really tried to be in any sort of serious relationship since then, so he didn't really know what he'd have felt like if he'd tried to juggle anything after Heather left besides simply keeping Russ alive…which had seemed like work enough at times.

The problem was that he didn't feel like he knew how much space was enough space…and he felt like he was really on the edge of fucking the whole thing up…which was something he didn't want at all.

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After Russ was in bed, earlier than usual but Daryl had bribed him with a trip to Merle and Andrea's the next day that he needed to be "rested" up for…which probably meant that Daryl would have to also throw in something else that he could count as exciting, Daryl decided to call Carol, whether he was supposed to or not.

They'd talked a couple of times, briefly, since she'd declared that she needed some kind of space…some distance or independence or whichever of the words she'd used that you wanted to plaster onto the whole thing as a label.

And at the end of it all, Daryl wasn't sure exactly how he felt about any of it…or how he was really supposed to feel. And he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and not do.

It was her first day of work, though, and even though he felt like an asshole for calling if that wasn't what she wanted, he also felt like an asshole for not calling and at least asking how the day went.

He'd almost come up with every terrible scenario known to man and backed out of the phone call and the relationship altogether by the time that Carol answered the phone.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Yeah…it's me…" Daryl responded after a moment. "I know ya told me not ta call ya…but I knew today was ya first day teachin'…"

"I didn't tell you not to call me, Daryl," Carol said. "That wasn't what I said at all."

"That's what'cha meant, ain't it?" Daryl asked. "With all ya needin' space an' independence…"

"No…that's not what I meant at all," Carol responded.

Daryl stepped out on the porch and sat down in the swing, rocking himself with his foot. He realized he was being more irritable with her now than he probably needed to be, but this whole thing…the whole relationship idea the way that she was presenting it to him was something that seemed so new and so foreign to him…and already he felt like he was failing because she'd wanted to back out of the whole thing.

"Daryl, I said what I meant," Carol said after he didn't respond. "I've said it to you more than once now…I meant that I…I just don't want to jump right into what I just got out of. I don't want to go from married to one person to married to another…"

The statement rubbed Daryl wrong, but he chewed at his finger and didn't respond, feeling like in the moment whatever he said he might regret.

"I want to feel like I can do this on my own, Daryl," Carol said. "Even if…I don't have to…or if…that's not the way that things go between us…I still want to feel like I could do this on my own…like I don't need someone to take care of me."

Daryl chuckled.

"Like you don't need me," Daryl responded.

There was some hesitation on the other part of the line.

"Some part of that," Carol responded after a moment. "Daryl…I told you and I meant it…this isn't about you. This isn't some commentary on you as a bad person or whatever…this is really me. I'm being selfish maybe…but…Daryl…I haven't been allowed to be selfish before."

Daryl grunted that he'd heard the words and turned them over in his head.

"I reckon maybe we both bein' a lil' selfish," he admitted. "You for your reasons…me for mine."

There was silence for another moment. Carol finally spoke, though, breaking the silence.

"What are your reasons, Daryl?" Carol asked. "Did you ever…figure it out? You keep saying that you want me around…it's obviously bothering you that I asked for some space…but why? What is it that you want at the end of the day?"

Daryl sucked his teeth.

"I ain't got no better answer for ya than I had before," Daryl said. "I told ya…I like havin' you 'round the house…Russ likes havin' you an' Sophia here. He asked me today when I picked him up if you was comin'…asked if Sophia was spendin' the night with him. I told him no…that you was at your house…but hell I'd rather you was here."

He fell quiet for a moment and she did too. There was only so many times that either of them could repeat themselves. It wasn't like they were changing too much the theme of what they had to say.

Daryl had found something in her that he hadn't found before. He'd found a woman that he liked being friends with…he'd never felt like Heather had been a friend of his. She'd been an acquaintance that he'd slept with for nothing more than the sex…and then she'd been the woman that was pregnant with his kid…the woman he was willing to marry just because that's what the hell he felt like he ought to do once he'd found out he knocked her up.

But she hadn't felt like someone he just liked being around…like someone he liked to just sit and talk to, or even just sit and be quiet with.

And maybe it was the novelty of it, but Daryl didn't want to lose that.

"Daryl…" Carol said after a moment. "If I was there…what would we be doing? I've got to work tomorrow and today was great…but I'm so tired that I can't…I don't even want to watch television because it hurts my brain. What would we be doing?"

"Whatever the hell you wanted to do," Daryl responded. "Ain't like I got no plans. Just talk, I reckon."

Carol laughed on the other end of the line.

"Aren't we talking now?" She asked.

Daryl thought about it a moment and then laughed lightly in response.

"Reckon so," he responded.

Carol sighed loudly enough that Daryl could hear it through the phone.

"Then it's the same thing," Carol said. "We're talking…just as if I were there…and in a few minutes, I'm going to go take a shower and I'm going to bed…and then…even if I were there it wouldn't matter because we'd both be asleep."

Daryl hummed in response.

"I'm not going to disappear, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm not…some kind of magical creature that just vanishes if you lose sight of me for a few hours."

"I know you're not," Daryl responded.

"I want you to respect what I want, Daryl," Carol said. "I want you to try to understand that I'm not doing this as something against you…but I'd appreciate it if you'd try not to…make me feel guilty…you know?"

Daryl chuckled ironically to himself.

"Weren't my intention ta make ya feel guilty," he said, feeling a little of the earlier irritation rising up. "Hell…weren't my intention ta have this conversation with you…I was callin' ta ask how ya day went…you the one started this shit up again."

Silence, and then finally she spoke again.

"My day was fine, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm just tired now and I need to go to sleep…thank you for calling."

"Oh…now you pissed," Daryl responded.

"No…I'm not," Carol responded. "I'm tired…that's what I am. And I'm ready to get ready for bed."

Daryl sat there a moment, holding the phone, trying to figure out what to say. He recognized that he was in a pissy mood and he wasn't sure if he might be projecting that onto her or if she was in a pissy mood too.

Whatever the case, though, it really didn't matter.

"Sorry," Daryl said. "For pissin' ya off…"

"I'm not pissed off," Carol responded. "It's fine…thank you for calling."

Daryl started to point out that she was making it sound like he'd called to inform her of what her credit score was or something like that, but he decided to let it go. He decided that maybe calling her had been a bad idea in the first place.

Maybe they were both too irritable and maybe they needed some kind of distance after all.

He liked having her around, but he wasn't going to force her to be around him. He'd been just fine before she'd come along and even though he might want her to stick around, if she didn't he'd be just fine then too.

"Yeah…no problem," Daryl responded when he finally decided to break the awkward silence between them. "You…uh…have a good night…good week…whatever."

There was another moment of silence that might have led Daryl to believe she'd hung up or that she hadn't heard him, but just about the time he was going to repeat himself or ask if she was on the line still, she responded.

"Goodnight, Daryl," Carol said. "I hope you have a good day tomorrow…"

"Yeah…you too…" Daryl said.

And finally he said goodbye for what he considered the last time, heard her echo the words, and he hung up the phone, lingering a little bit there on the swing with the phone in his hand.

He didn't need someone to tell him that he hadn't handled the situation correctly…because if he'd done things right then he wouldn't feel so damn bad about the whole thing when he hung up…what he didn't know, though, was exactly how he might have handled it to make it turn out that he wasn't left with the feeling that everything was going sour, if it hadn't turned already.


	33. Chapter 33

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

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When Carol got to Jo Greene's house to pick up Sophia, she was first apologetic for getting there so late and then she was oddly relieved to see that Russ was still there, the two of them the only remaining children in the woman's care because that meant that if she stalled a little, took her time getting through her conversation with Jo and the minimal socialization the woman seemed to expect, she might have a chance to talk to Daryl face to face, something she found preferable to trying to talk to him over the phone.

Russ didn't miss her entrance into the house any more than Sophia, and he beat the little girl in the trip to Carol.

"Miss Carol!" He announced.

She smiled at him and stooped down so that she could simultaneously hug Sophia who was coming at her, wearing evidence of whatever she'd apparently been finishing eating when Carol came through the door, and pay attention to Russ.

"Umm…are you coming to my Anandrea's house…'cause I'm eating there and I gotta pool…but it's…it's not a big pool and Sophia…she can swim in it because it's not big and she don't need not babin' suit because I don't need one but I don't pee in the pool because Uncle Merle says you gotta pee in the bushes and then you don't gotta get dried off and go inside…and you can come," Russ stopped short when he'd finished his speech, his finger headed straight for his nose while he waited for a response. Carol reached out and tugged at it.

"Don't stick your finger in your nose, Russ," Carol said. "And your pool sounds like a lot of fun, but I think it needs to be your Aunt Andrea that invites Sophia and me over to her house, don't you think?"

Russ stared at her and then shook his head.

Clearly not…clearly Russ could invite any and everyone to Aunt Andrea's house.

"No because it'll be OK because you met her…you met Anandrea. 'Member? We ate nanna popsicles an' Sophia likes them but she don't eat 'em right…you 'member?" Russ responded.

Carol bit her lip not to laugh at the fact that the whole thing had now come down to whether or not she was suffering from early onset alzheimers, because clearly bonding over a banana popsicle meant you could invite yourself to someone's home on a whim.

"I remember," Carol said, picking Sophia up as she straightened up. "Maybe Sophia and I can come the next time you swim in your pool? After I talk to your Daddy about it?"

Russ didn't look too satisfied, but he didn't protest at the moment and Carol turned to Jo Greene who was standing there watching the whole thing.

"Was Sophia good today?" Carol asked.

Jo smiled and nodded, walking to the sink and coming back a moment later with a washcloth. She cleaned Sophia up and Sophia responded to her newly clean face by licking her lips dramatically as though there were something besides water on the washcloth.

"She was perfect," Jo said. "Hershel took her for her first ride on the big tractor today and she loved it. She tried to drive it for him."

Carol smiled and twisted a little, jostling Sophia to get a smile out of her.

"Did you ride the big tractor?" Carol asked.

Sophia stared at her, still grinning and nodded her head.

"Vroom, vroom," Sophia said before engaging in some other sound that Carol wasn't sure what it was supposed to be.

"Was it fast?" Carol asked.

Sophia nodded, her smile remaining.

"Go all way 'round," Sophia said, directing Carol to see something with the gesturing of her hands, though Carol couldn't have seen anything more than the kitchen if she'd looked.

Jo laughed.

"Hershel took her all the way around the farm," Jo clarified.

Carol leaned and kissed Sophia's cheek while she listened to Jo give her the other details of Sophia's day…how much she'd eaten, when she'd eaten, how long she'd napped…and while she was collecting the information about her daughter's day, the other person that she'd been waiting to see opened the door behind her and caught all of their attention quickly.

And Carol felt bad because she could see on Daryl's face the catch that everyone makes when they suddenly come to face to face with someone they'd rather avoid.

And she hated knowing that it was her that he was making that face at.

Daryl didn't make any move to stay and find out about Russ's day from Jo…he'd just ask Russ later and sort through what he thought was fact and what was Russ's particular style of fact. He spoke quickly to Jo over Carol's shoulder and reached a hand out, catching Russ and pulling him toward the door with a declaration that they were going to be late.

And Carol took that as her cue to quickly say goodbye to Jo and follow Daryl out with Sophia riding on her hip.

"Daryl…" Carol called when it was clear that he was ignoring that she was behind him.

He continued to ignore her until he'd opened the door and pointed for Russ to get into the vehicle.

"Buckle up," Daryl commanded, shutting the door and shutting down whatever Russ was trying to tell him.

"So you're not going to talk to me?" Carol asked when Daryl turned around, not expecting her to be right behind him.

He stared at her a moment.

"What'cha want me ta say?" He asked.

"Daryl…I think we need to talk…because I think you're misunderstanding me all the way around…" Carol said.

Daryl gave her the look that everybody's gotten from their parents before…the look that you have only so many minutes to speak your piece and then you're going to either be ignored or be in hot water.

Carol put Sophia down so she could go off trotting around the yard chasing grasshoppers and she held a hand up to Daryl to stop him from speaking if he intended to interrupt her.

"Daryl…I'm not trying to break up with you…I never was," Carol said. "I got asked out on a date today…dinner…by a very nice man that I work with. He asked me to go on a date with him…"

Daryl made a face at her like he might spit at her.

"But I turned him down," Carol said. "I told him I couldn't go to dinner with him because I was in a relationship…I was seeing someone. Did I lie to him?"

Daryl shrugged.

"I don't know, Carol," he said. "You tell me…you the one tellin' me how this is s'posed ta go, remember? You say how it goes an' I respect what'cha want…so tell me what'cha want."

Carol resisted the urge to stomp her foot at him, even though she had a strong inclination to do so at the moment. Russ was easier to deal with than Daryl when he was in the mood that he seemed to be in right now.

"You know what I want? I want to be independent. The only thing I wanted…the only reason that I even brought this whole thing up was to slow down, Daryl. I thought that I could get my own place…get the chance to feel like I was taking care of myself and my daughter. I thought…maybe I could get somewhere that had a little room to fix up for Russ…or put a bed in there for him…so that I could make you dinner, and you could come over…and he could sleep in his own little special place there…and sometimes you could make me dinner and I could come over to your house. I didn't want you to stop talking to me or to talk to me like I'm…doing something awful to you, Daryl. I thought we could date!" Carol said, noticing herself that her words were coming out slightly like she was growling at him by the end.

He looked a little stunned and she didn't know if it was from her words, or from her tone of voice, or from the fact that if the heat she felt in her face was any indication of the color of her cheeks she'd very likely gone quite red in the face.

Daryl looked around as thought to check that they were alone. Carol followed his lead, though she hadn't thought about it until now that they were in the front yard of the Greene house. If anyone was around, though, they were hiding.

And Sophia, wandering around a little at a distance collecting sticks and leaves that Carol would have to take with them as though they were the grand prizes that she thought they were, wasn't paying them any attention.

"I know ya wanta date…an' you wanna do all that romantic shit…but we got two kids an' you done seen that the best it gets sometimes is ain't nobody bit nobody else in half an hour," Daryl said.

Carol bit her own lip in response, not to laugh at him.

"We just don't got the perfect set up ta date…that's why the hell comin' over was easy," Daryl said. "Kids have shit ta play with…got everything we need…just get them entertained an' we can at least talk…might even get ta touch ya or somethin' 'fore bedtime if the damn movie's good enough…but I don't know what'cha wanna do if you don't wanna do that an' ya don't wanna get somebody ta keep the kids all the time."

Carol raised her eyebrows at him.

"I didn't say we didn't date with the kids…I didn't say we couldn't," she responded. "We can…take them to a park…we can go to the zoo…we can go to the circus…"

"Russ don't like clowns," Daryl said.

"Then we don't go to the circus," Carol said. "The point is that I'm not saying that I don't want to see you…and I'm not even saying that I don't want to come over…I'm just saying not every night. I'm saying that I want there to be…"

She broke off, frustrated with herself because she didn't know exactly how to explain what she wanted. There hadn't been too many times in the last longest that anyone had cared what she wanted.

"I'm saying that I want there to be the…surprise…the excitement of seeing each other, not the expectation that it's just going to be that way every night," Carol said.

She shook her head at him.

"That's fine…when you're married…that's great," she continued. "And to want to see each other and be married at the same time…even better, but there should be something that comes first. There should be excitement to seeing each other. And I know you think I'm crazy or I'm mean or horrible or whatever it is that you think…but I want to know that I could take care of myself and Sophia…if something didn't work out between us, that I could handle that."

Carol shook her head.

"Maybe I'm being selfish, and if I am…then I'm sorry…but I want to know that I could take care of us…and I want to see you too…and I don't think that I should have to say that I'll take one or the other," Carol said.

Daryl stood there a moment with the line between his eyebrows ever growing in depth until Carol felt like she had her answer, or she had his response. She finally simply nodded her head at him and went after Sophia, forcing herself to smile and act excited about the little girl's prizes before she freed a snail that was on his way to being crushed and fingered through the other items…dead leaves, a stick, a crushed weed…that Sophia was beaming about having found all on her own.

Carol picked the little girl up then and started toward her own vehicle and turned back when she heard Daryl call her name.

She didn't respond, she simply waited.

"How am I supposed ta know?" Daryl asked. "How am I s'posed ta know when I can ask ya out an' when ya don't want me around…how do I know what'cha wanna do an' when ya wanna do it?"

Carol chuckled ironically to herself.

"You ask, Daryl," Carol said. "That's all…you just ask. And the worst I can say is "no"…but if I say no…then I probably mean "not tonight," that doesn't mean "never again"."

She shook her head again.

"The only time it means never again is if I say never again," Carol said. "And…I hope…that's not something I'm going to ever have to say."

"Fine," Daryl said. "We goin' ta eat at Merle an' Andrea's…dinner?"

Carol chewed her lip and shook her head.

"Not tonight," she said.

His face fell from the heights it had started to reach.

"Friday? Alice is going to be home…I could cook dinner…she could play with the kids some? Russ would like it and you haven't met her yet," Carol said. "You can see where Soph and I are staying…at least until we find our own place."

Daryl stared a moment and then nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Alright…Friday night."


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter here.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol was working on preparing the food so that it would be ready to cook by the time that Daryl and Russ arrived for dinner. Thankfully Alice had been home all day and had agreed to pick up Sophia and get everything ready…otherwise Carol, who got home a little later than she'd planned from work, might have been stuck trying desperately to thaw chicken that could have caused major bodily harm to someone.

While Carol prepared the food she tried to dodge Sophia who was laughing and running back and forth between the kitchen and Alice's room where the woman was changing clothes and very obviously playing some sort of game that Carol wasn't entirely aware of the rules to.

"OK…good enough?" Alice asked, coming into the kitchen in overalls.

Carol looked at her and laughed.

"You're wearing make up?" Carol asked.

"Too much?" Alice asked, leaning against the counter.

"No…you look good," Carol said. "I just didn't expect you to be wearing make up."

"I figured if I'm going to meet this mystery guy you're all but u-hauling with, I might as well make a decent first impression…and Soph and I watched Alice in Wonderland today to refresh, but not the shitty cartoon…the real movie," Alice said, fumbling around.

She had set the living room up in a little tea party around the coffee table figuring that it might add something to her attempt to pretend to be the girl from the story. She'd made kool aid instead of tea and she had some cookies for Russ…and then she opened the box from the cabinet that had Sophia's favorite snack bars.

And the act drew Sophia's full attention so she ran to Alice, stretching herself to her full height, reaching up at Alice like she might climb her if given the chance.

"Addie! I eat cookie Addie! I eat that now! Thanks Addie thanks!" Sophia said, her voice bordering somewhere between excitement and possible future hysterics.

Carol glanced over her shoulder to make sure Alice didn't need back up. Alice leaned down.

"These are for the tea party…you get to eat it at the tea party with Russ," Alice said.

Carol knew before Sophia got upset that she was going to get upset. She didn't always understand "later" and she certainly didn't understand "at the tea party." All she knew was that she wasn't getting the snack that she wanted. She was being denied the treat that Alice had in her hand…and especially coming from Alice who gave her everything she wanted before she anticipated she wanted it, that was the ultimate betrayal.

And down she went to sit against the cabinet and cry at Alice's feet.

"Carol…" Alice started.

"Just give it to her," Carol said. "She's probably hungry and she might as well eat it now…"

"But then she won't have anything to eat when Russ is eating the cookies," Alice declared.

"So break it in half!" Carol responded. "You're supposed to be good at problem solving."

"Not when she's crying I'm not!" Alice responded.

But she must have broken the thing in half because Sophia, although she didn't immediately stop crying, thanked Alice and remained, sitting there on the floor, eating her treat while Alice scurried off to get rid of the evidence of the other half.

"I'm telling you," Carol called, washing her hands, and then teasing Sophia with her foot while she dried them, "you should have kids, Al."

Alice hooted at her as she came back into the kitchen.

"Yeah…that wouldn't happen even if I had any interest in men," Alice said. "Besides…didn't you promise me in college you were going to have one for me because I don't like all the gory details of it?"

Carol laughed.

"I did promise you that," Carol said. "But that was before I realized that if I'm putting nine months into the thing, I'm not giving it up."

"Some friend you are," Alice teased. "I was going to say that I could just keep Sophia and you can make more…"

"Oh," Carol responded. "Well…in that case…you can have Sophia…"

"Mmm…" Alice hummed. "Nah…she's already ruined. I want a fresh one."

Carol laughed and checked back over her scribbled down checklist to make sure that she had everything going the way she wanted it so that she could make sure it came off at more or less the time that she had planned.

When she heard the doorbell, she didn't even have to ask who it was and she silently congratulated herself on having everything so well timed.

"I'll get it," she declared, rushing to wash her hands.

"I was going to let you get it," Alice said. "I figured that you could maybe introduce us…something like that?"

Carol made her way to the door with Alice behind her, Sophia following the both of them with her fist and mouth both full of the snack she hadn't finished.

When she pulled open the door, Carol was pleased to see that Daryl was dressed nicely and smiling in anticipation of the gathering.

"Come on in!" Carol declared.

Daryl came through the door practically pushing Russ who, for one of the first times since Carol had known him, appeared to be speechless. She wondered if Daryl might have told him to be on his best behavior.

As soon as they were inside, though, Russ went immediately to Sophia.

"What's she eating?" Russ asked. "Can I have some? What is it?"

"Son!" Daryl barked, making Russ jump and look at him.

"It's OK," Carol said quickly. "She's eating cookies…well…her cookies…but we have special cookies for Russ."

Russ looked back at Daryl and Daryl shook his head with a sigh.

"Go ahead…" he said.

Alice leaned down near Russ then.

"I'm Alice," she said. "You must be Russ? I've heard about you…you want a cookie?"

Russ stared at her and then nodded his head, so she went to the little table where she'd set up the tea party for them and offered him one of the cookies. Carol heard him whisper something of a faint whisper while Alice came over and offered a hand in greeting to Daryl.

He shook it and Carol almost felt bad for him because he looked like he felt out of place.

"You want to sit?" Carol asked. "Alice has a little tea party set up for the kids…so you can play with them…or you're welcome to join me in the kitchen. I'm working on dinner."

Daryl didn't respond with words, but he nodded his head, not making it clear what he was nodding at until he started after her toward the kitchen.

She could hear Russ already breaking Alice in and both of them listened for a moment while she went back to her meal preparations.

"Are you…you're not the real Alice…because she's a little girl," Russ declared.

"I grew up," Alice said. "You'll grow up too one day, won't you? No…here…sit here…Soph…you want the other half of your cookie?"

"You don't look like Alice! She has blonde hair like my Anandrea," Russ declared.

Alice laughed.

"That's just Disney. They think it's OK to take my story and sell it with a little blonde haired, blue eyed girl…one day you'll understand that. Here…you like kool aid?" Alice asked.

Carol shook her head.

"She OK with the kids?" Daryl asked when she looked at him.

Carol nodded.

"She loves kids," Carol said. "She…says it's because she's still one…and there's a lot of truth in that. She'll be fine with them. I trust her completely with Sophia."

Daryl cleared his throat.

"That's sayin' a lot," he said. "Hell…half the time I ain't sure I trust Merle an' Andrea with Russ an' they damn near had him as much as I have."

Carol laughed lightly and joined Daryl at the table, giving the food the time it required.

"You're just saying that," she responded. "I know you trust them…and I think kids let you know who's good with them and who isn't."

Daryl hummed.

"Don't know," he said. "If it's true, reckon Russ ain't never been around nobody weren't good ta him, 'cause he ain't never complained…Sophia lets ya know?"

Carol shrugged and then nodded her head gently.

"She…uh…wasn't very fond of her father," Carol said. "She didn't say anything…obviously…but she didn't like to be around him. She didn't want him to hold her…you know? She just didn't want to be around him and he didn't want to be around her. I feel like that's about as close as she can come to saying she doesn't like to be around someone."

Daryl made a face and nodded his head.

"She's pretty easy ta get along with…hell she likes Merle," he said with a chuckle.

Carol smiled.

"He's not so bad," Carol said. "He seemed like he was good with her and Russ both…he'll be good with his kids."

Daryl smiled and then chewed at his lip.

"So this is where ya live," he remarked, looking around the kitchen.

Carol laughed.

"Well…not in the kitchen," she said. "But, yes, for the time being this is where I live. I get paid at the end of the month…so then I'm going to work out a budget…start figuring out what I'm looking for in a place."

"This place ain't real big," Daryl commented. "Bigger'n my house, but it ain't real big."

Carol shook her head.

"Alice lives alone…or she did and she will when we move out," Carol said. "I guess she doesn't need too much space. Her schedule doesn't leave her home all that much."

Daryl nodded and got up from the table. Carol watched as he headed out the kitchen as quietly as he could and she already knew he was going to check on the kids. She could hear the din of talking, and she might have been able to make it out if she'd tried, but she didn't try.

Daryl returned a moment later.

"Everything OK?" She asked.

"Yeah," Daryl commented, sitting again. "Hell yeah…she's tellin' Russ some kinda story an' he's lookin' at her with his mouth open."

Carol smiled and lowered her voice.

"He thinks she's…I guess something of a celebrity," Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head.

"Oz…Wonderland…all them places," Daryl commented. "To us, they just fairy tales…ta Russ? They real…I know I oughta not let him believe in them places…in magic an' fairy tales an' all that happily ever after stuff…but…"

He stopped talking and shook his head.

"But he's a child," Carol said quickly. "And there's plenty of time for him to learn that all that stuff isn't real…but there's not much time that we get to believe that it is. I don't see any harm in it."

Daryl chuckled after a moment.

"What is it?" Carol asked, already smiling, feeling relieved that apparently Daryl had forgiven her for the unforgiveable sin of saying that she needed some time and some space.

She thought that maybe what Daryl needed was this…maybe he needed to actually see that she wasn't going to disappear…maybe there wasn't that much difference, sometimes, in children and adults.

"Russ thinks you a fairy," Daryl said, shaking his head. "There ain't not one damn thing I can do ta convince him that you ain't one an' that I ain't lyin' ta him when I tell him you ain't a fairy."

Carol furrowed her brow.

"Why does he think I'm a fairy?" She asked.

"Damn story I'm tellin' him," Daryl said. "Got this fairy queen…an' I said she looks like you. Hell…he always wants ta know what the people look like an' I make 'em look like people he knows…you know? Andrea's the fairy queen…Merle's the ogre…hunter looks like me…Hershel an' Jo…they the glass queen an' king…"

"Glass king and queen?" Carol asked.

Daryl nodded.

"Don't ask," he said.

She chuckled.

"So you the fairy queen…but Russ…he thinks you might be the fairy queen 'cause she can grow big if she needs to," Daryl said.

Carol laughed.

"I guess there's no harm in that," she said. "But I'm not a fairy...I hope that doesn't disappoint you…"

Daryl smiled.

"I had a pretty good inclination ya might not be," he said.

Russ appeared in the kitchen not three minutes later. He came in, looking at Daryl, and he kept his eyes on him while he bypassed him completely and went to Carol, reaching up and poking her in the arm before crooking a finger at her and gesturing for her to lean down. She did what he asked and he whispered in her ear.

When Russ had finished his message, she looked at him.

"Maybe after dinner?" She asked.

Russ frowned at her.

"You've got to eat," Carol said. "You might get hungry if you don't eat before you go…"

"But…nah ah 'cause we gonna eat…if we find it…we can eat…there'll be food there an' if it gets too dark we won't find nothin'…" Russ protested.

Daryl looked at Carol and she offered him a half smile.

He reached out and caught Russ by the shoulder, turning him so that he was looking at him.

"What you after?" He asked.

Russ looked back at Carol.

"Tell him," Carol said. "You've got to have his permission…"

Russ looked at Daryl.

"Alice said we could…" Russ started.

"Miss Alice," Daryl corrected.

"Miss Alice said we could look for…we could go and see if we could find the rabbit…she said we could see if we found him…and if we found him we could all go to…me and her and Sophia…but you could go if you wanted to…but I don't know if you could fit down the hole…but if we found him we could go with him to Wonderland…but we need to go and look for him," Russ said.

Daryl glanced at Carol and chewed his lip like he was considering the question when she was pretty sure that he was really trying not to laugh.

"After dinner," Daryl said. "If Miss Alice still wants ta take ya lookin' for the rabbit…you can go after dinner…but'cha gotta eat an' if you go with her, you gotta listen to her."

Russ nodded at him.

"Don't look so damn sad son," Daryl said quickly. "It's after a meal not in a million years. Now go be sweet on her so she don't change her mind."

Russ looked at Carol and she nodded at him.

He darted, then, out of the kitchen.

"I guess I better hurry up and get dinner ready," Carol said. "Because they'll be rabbit hunting in the dark."

Daryl chuckled.

"Why the hell would she take him out there lookin' for somethin' they ain't gon' find?" Daryl asked.

Carol smiled.

"If I know Alice…she's doing it for us as much as she's doing it for them," Carol said.

Daryl looked confused for a moment, but then he chuckled and nodded his head. He got up from his chair.

"What can I do ta help?" He asked.


	35. Chapter 35

Carol sat with her legs pulled up in the swing, leaning into Daryl while he fanned from time to time the mosquitos that would make a meal out of them given the chance.

They couldn't see Alice and the kids any longer, but anyone within a mile distance could probably hear them as Russ yelled and squealed about the adventure that they were on, their whereabouts evidenced by the dancing flashlight beam in the darkness.

Daryl rubbed the hand he had wrapped around Carol's shoulder up and down the arm that it rested on and she rooted into him a little more.

Her friend was loud and when she laughed, it was a cackling laugh of the kind that almost hurt your eardrums. She was probably everything that Daryl had thought anyone with as much as education as she had to have to be a doctor wouldn't be at all.

But he liked her, and it was clear that she liked Carol…though he wasn't sure if she'd made any such decision on him just yet.

And Russ thought she was the closest thing to a movie star there was…even better because she was a movie star that would let him sit in her lap and would take him out chasing imaginary rabbits when all they were likely to find in this neighborhood were some nasty bug bites.

"Ya friend…Alice…she just like kids that much or is she as crazy as she seems?" Daryl asked.

Carol chuckled.

"She likes me that much…and she likes kids," Carol said. "And she might be a little crazy."

Daryl tipped his head and nuzzled at the side of Carol's face and she turned, kissing him before she snuggled back into her position before.

"So this what we gon' do while they run around?" He asked. "Listen to 'em wake up the whole neighborhood."

"I think it's nice," Carol said. "You don't?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Gotta admit…every time I thought about us gettin' alone…if it ever happened…I didn't think about this," Daryl said. "We ain't never had the kids not in the next room."

Carol ignored him, though. She sat in silence for a moment and then finally broke it herself when she felt like speaking.

"The story…the one that you tell Russ…when did you start it?" She asked.

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"Hell…don't know," he responded. "Don't know when it started…but I know how it started. I started it 'cause I was sick an' damn tired a' readin' them books over an' over again. I been readin' ta Russ since before he had teeth…Andrea read somewhere said it makes 'em smarter if ya read to 'em…I don't know if it made Russ smarter, but it calmed him down. He always liked for ya ta talk to him…didn't matter what about…just talk. Used ta keep him in that lil' bouncy chair? Haul him 'round the house an' narrate every damn thing any of us did. We was always like 'now I'm puttin' this in the microwave 'cause ya gotta warm it up' or 'Andrea's gonna take a bath 'cause she smells like sour ass milk 'cause ya keep pukin' on her."

Daryl broke off and laughed remembering that era of his life. It had been true, too. He felt like he'd spoken more in the span of Russ' first four months of life than he'd talked his entire life up to then. They all had. It seemed like everything that could happen to a baby to make them fussy or hard to get along with had happened to Russ…and talking to him was one of the few things that had kept him even partially calm.

Carol laughed too, so she must have thought it was entertaining.

"So…how did narrating life turn into the story?" Carol asked.

"Oh…hell…like I said…I got tired at night a' readin' him the same story over an' over again," Daryl said. "So…just started makin' up this story an' it just kinda keeps on growin'…every damn night I'm comin' up with new ways for it ta keep on goin'…new adventures for Hansel ta have…"

"Will it ever end?" Carol asked.

Daryl grunted.

"I reckon it will one day…I don't got no idea when or how…but one day I guess Hansel's gotta find his way…" Daryl responded.

"His way where?" Carol asked. She yawned and Daryl echoed the yawn, unable to avoid it.

"Don't know that either, not really," Daryl said when he'd recovered from the yawn. "Home, I reckon…wherever it is he's tryin' ta get to."

"What do I do? In the story?" Carol asked.

Daryl laughed.

"Ain't you…it's the damn fairy queen," Daryl said, poking her in the arm with his finger.

"OK," Carol said. "What does the fairy queen do?"

"She's…" Daryl broke off. It was hard to explain that. It was hard to say what any of the characters in his story really did or why they were there. He just sort of plucked them out of thin air and stuck them in places when he needed them. "I guess she's somethin' like a guide," he said. "She's travelin' with Hansel…an' with the Hunter…an' she's takin' 'em 'cross the glass land, but I reckon she's gonna go farther with 'em 'cause Russ ain't gonna wanna give her up. The damn good queen has ta pop every now an' again too ta keep him happy…so I don't reckon we done with the fairy neither."

Carol laughed and shifted her weight so quickly to sit up that Daryl grabbed at her, his mind tricked into believing that she was falling or something with the sudden movement. As soon as he realized, though, that she was simply shifting of her own volition, he released the sudden grip he'd gotten on her arm.

She moved to face him, barely illuminated by the porch light on the corner of the porch.

"Are you still mad at me?" She asked after a moment.

Daryl swallowed.

"I weren't never mad," he said.

Carol nodded her head.

"You were mad…you were mad enough to avoid me entirely…" She said.

Daryl shook his head.

"I weren't mad…" he insisted.

"Then what were you?" Carol asked.

Daryl sighed and shrugged, feeling like this was one of those questions that Russ asked sometimes…the questions that he didn't know how to answer and he was left scrambling for something to say and hoping that it wouldn't later be discovered how far off he'd been.

"Maybe I was mad," he ceded after he'd thought about it a moment. "But…I weren't mad at you…I was mad at me."

Carol shifted again, sending the whole swing swaying side to side instead of front to back like it was designed to go.

"Why?" She asked. "I told you why I wanted what I want…so at least tell me why it made you so mad."

Daryl chewed his lip.

"I don't like talkin' 'bout all a' this," he said. He shook his head. "It don't matter no way. You gonna get what'cha want…an' I ain't mad."

"Please?" Carol asked. "Tell me why you were mad?"

Daryl hated talking about some of these things. He was fine to a point, but then it got into that territory where Merle was telling him he was being a girl about shit. It got to the point where Merle would tell him to man the fuck up and get over shit.

And he'd been trying to get over shit for most of his life…but he wasn't nearly as good at getting over things as Merle obviously was.

"Daryl…if you tell me why you were mad…just like I told you why I wanted to have some space…why I wanted us to do things differently…then I might, just maybe, be able to keep you from getting mad like that again," Carol said.

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"I got mad 'cause I figured…hell that I'd fucked it up," Daryl said, almost spitting the words at her. "I figured whatever made you not wanna be around my ass…well you said it weren't Russ…so I just figured it was somethin' about me…prob'ly same damn shit made Heather so miserable she run off an' left her damn kid behind."

Carol stared at him, but she didn't respond.

Daryl shook his head.

"It don't make no damn sense an' I should just get the hell over it," he said. "I know…I heard that before. That's why I ain't wanted ta tell ya in the first place."

"Daryl," Carol said, "it does make sense…but I'm not Heather. And just like I'm having to remind myself sometimes that you're not Ed…that it's not fair for me to think that you're going to…turn into Ed…you've got to remind yourself that I'm not Heather. OK?"

"I know you ain't Heather," Daryl said. "I didn't mean ta say ya were…"

Carol shook her head.

"I know you weren't saying I'm Heather…but I'm not trying to go anywhere, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm not…and maybe she wanted her freedom…but the kind of space that I want? It's different."

Daryl nodded his head at Carol.

"Yeah," he said. "I think I get it."

Carol leaned forward and Daryl felt her teeth scraping his lip gently before she kissed him, her hands going to his face. He sat forward, accepting the kiss and initiating more when she started to move away.

By the time that he let her go, Daryl was pretty sure that he couldn't think straight because he knew that he lacked the full amount of blood flow to his brain. It was clear, though, that nothing was getting done about that tonight. Tonight they were just sitting together, rocking in a swing, while some woman ran around with their kids and a flashlight looking for a make believe land.

Daryl chuckled to himself after a moment.

"Ya friend…she babysit?" He asked.

Carol sat back in her original position, rooting into him a little once more.

"What?" She asked.

"Alice," Daryl asked. "She like babysittin'?"

Carol shrugged against him.

"I mean…she babysits when I need her to," Carol said.

"What does she like?" Daryl asked.

Carol sat up enough to look at him and give him an inquisitive look. He almost laughed at her cocked eyebrow and the obvious confusion on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Carol asked.

Daryl smiled again.

"I asked what she likes," Daryl repeated, using the same tone of voice he might have used to clarify something for Russ. "'Cause I'd buy her just about anything she'd like ta keep the kids for us…one a' these nights when you ain't feelin' so…independent."

Carol made a face at him and then sat back against him, silent.

And he worried for the moment that he might have offended her. It had been a joke…for the most part.

Finally he poked at her shoulder with his finger again.

"Hey…" he said. "I'm sorry…I was just thinkin'…like I said before…we ain't never had too much time without the kids around…I didn't mean nothin'…"

"You know…" Carol said after a moment, "we could ask Alice…or Andrea and Merle too. We've got options. We could make it into a big adventure? But…"

Daryl was relieved that she wasn't mad at him. He was so relieved by that he didn't really even care whatever her stipulations might be…or even if they went through with seeking out a babysitter for some alone time after all.

"But what?" He asked.

"Not overnight," Carol said. "I don't want to spend the night away from Sophia…I wouldn't sleep."

Daryl chuckled.

"Reckon we can work that much out…one day," he offered. "We'll have ta break in that new place ya get…after all…spend the afternoon there? You an' me? Then get Russ an' Sophia an' let 'em be there for the night."

Carol nodded her head.

"I might like that," she offered. "But first I've got to find the place…"

"You'll find it," Daryl said. "That ain't nothin' but a thing…if ya want, I'll even help ya look."

"I think I'd like that," Carol said after a moment.

Then she shifted and got up from the swing, walking toward the edge of the porch. Daryl watched her for a moment as she walked away from him and he realized that the flashlight beam was headed toward them and that if he strained his ears he could make out not only the sound of Russ, but the words he was saying as he chattered back and forth with the woman about the rabbit that they didn't catch…but they "almost did".


	36. Chapter 36

**AN: Hi everyone! Here's another little chapter. I'll admit that it's not the best and probably not what I was even going for but I write around a lot of distractions these days, so I'm doing the best that I can! **

**I hope you enjoy, regardless! Let me know what you think!**

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"Now it's not much…I don't have much yet," Carol declared as she stood in the doorway, blocking Daryl's access to the small house that he'd helped her pick out.

He laughed and leaned his arm against the outside door frame, his head against his arm.

"Ain't much, huh? More'n it was when it was empty?" He asked.

She pursed her lips.

"Not much more," she declared, shaking her head. "Alice and I found some things…she helped me get started, but I just don't want you to expect too much…"

"I got no expectations," Daryl said. "Nothin'…not a thing. You got anything in that house besides some sippy cups and a buncha diapers an' I'ma be shocked as shit."

Carol made a face at him.

"Where's Russ?" She asked.

Daryl raised his eyebrows at her.

"At the Greene house…same as Soph," Daryl said. "An' Merle an' Andrea pickin' 'em both up…takin' 'em ta get pizza an' play at the indoor playground…bringin' 'em by later."

Carol sucked in a breath.

"Andrea's OK?" She asked.

Daryl nodded his head. Andrea was literally due any day. She was overdue, actually, according to their little twin charts and such…and it had become something of a joke that she would never have the twins. But, as long as the babies were doing well, no one was pushing it until there was something to worry about. They were, more than anything, just trying to figure out how to coax the two newest Dixons out of their warm little burrow and relieve Andrea of the suffering of carrying around the weight of them.

"She's just fine," Daryl said. "She an' Merle said they ain't no trouble…an' soon as they get 'em both to the playground they ain't gotta do much more'n make sure they don't break they necks…"

Daryl had been doing all that he could to play by Carol's rules…for almost four months he'd done everything she had asked of him and he'd tried to remind himself that she needed her space…he'd tried to remind himself that it was something that didn't have anything to do with him.

And during those three months they'd had dinner from time to time during the week, but she never stayed the night…and they'd gone over a few times to Merle and Andrea's house so that they could get used to Sophia, not that she required much to get used to anyone…and they'd gone over to Carol's house so that Russ could spend time with the woman that he considered to be something a living superhero.

Once or twice they'd gone out to dinner together while someone kept the children, and like teenagers they'd stolen a few moments alone in Daryl's vehicle to neck here or there before they got themselves together and went to pick up the children from wherever they had to pick them up from.

They hadn't been together sexually since Carol had put a stop to the whole thing…and Daryl was starting to get a little anxious.

He'd helped her pick out the house. It was a small little three bedroom number that she'd gotten a really great deal on because it needed work. The couple that had owned it was an old couple that had the house sitting empty for quite some time. They'd once rented it out, but apparently that had long since fallen by the wayside when they'd failed to keep it up and they were simply looking to unload it for a good price.

And it was a good price since Daryl considered himself to be somewhat handy, and he had enough friends that he could force into being handy if they had to be, and much of the work that needed to be done was something they could handle.

So Carol had taken the house and she'd gone to work getting things set up with the bank. Her divorce seemed to be going well, she expected to get some money from it, though not a sum that was enough to do too much with, and she was happy at her job that, though it didn't pay much, did pay enough to cover the payments that she'd set up.

Daryl and Merle had cut the grass, essentially finding the house in the jungle of weeds and grass it had become lost in, and they'd fixed one or two things that she could have lived without but it wasn't necessary.

And then Alice had handled the moving in of Carol into the house.

Now, though, she was all moved in and the plan was that they would spend the afternoon together, alone, at the house and then they would have Russ and Sophia for the night. And Daryl and Russ were going to sleep over…an adventure in Russ's eyes and music to Daryl's ears.

But first she had to let him inside.

"You're not going to make fun?" Carol asked. "If it's not…very nice? Alice helped me get it together, but I couldn't afford everything in one swoop."

Daryl sighed.

"Carol…if you let me in this damn door…then I promise you that I ain't gonna say nothin' at all about nothin' at all! This is our time…remember? Only time we gettin' without the kids…an' I swear…ya house is gonna be perfect…you look like a damn goddess…an' I'm an asshole 'cause I shoulda brought flowers but I was too damn distracted tryin' ta figure out how ta pack Russ an overnight bag an' bring shit for Sophia that he outgrowed that I couldn't thinka nothin'!"

Carol smiled at him, cutting her eyes up at him, and then she backed out of the doorway and allowed him to pass into the house. Daryl followed her in and stayed on her heels as she gave him the grand tour. A small living room that had a couch, a second hand television courtesy of the Greenes, a video player to entertain the kids, a kitchen, a bath and a half with just enough towels that Carol would have to wash them almost daily in the second hand washer and dryer to stay ahead of the game, three bedrooms, the master bedroom with a queen sized bed, one of the bedrooms empty, and two twin beds in the other one…that's what the house consisted of at this point.

But it was a nice house, and it was what Carol wanted…and if it was what she wanted then there was time for things to be made into something more, something better.

"I thought, for the time being, that Sophia and Russ might like to be in the same room," Carol said. "I thought it might be easier on him…you know? Instead of sleeping in a strange room alone. But if you think he'd rather have the other room right now…"

Daryl chuckled at the concern washing over Carol's features at the moment.

He shook his head.

"It's fine…I think he'll like it better like this," Daryl said. "You done good…an' ya house? It's a nice lil' house."

"There isn't too much, but it is nice, isn't it?" Carol said.

Daryl nodded.

"Just got more space, that's all," Daryl said. "Real nice space too. Fix this up an' it's got a lotta potential."

Carol looked pleased with his praise and Daryl chewed at his lip to hide his own moment of pleasure at her expression.

He cleared his throat.

"I didn't get a good look…at the bedroom…you…uh…wanna show that one ta me again?" Daryl offered.

Carol laughed.

"The kids' bedroom? Or the empty one?" Carol asked.

She was teasing him and Daryl knew it. She wasn't good at hiding her smile when she teased and no matter how hard she fought it, the corners of her mouth curled up or her chin quivered slightly if she held them down. He stepped toward her and caught her around the chest, picking her up off her feet. She howled at him and her arms went around his neck so that he had to put her down quickly to keep her from choking off his air supply.

He nuzzled his face into her neck.

"'Fore I ever even bring our shit in…can we make the best a' this? 'Cause the damn luck we got them twins'll come 'fore dinner's over just ta run our asses outta here," he mumbled.

Carol pulled away from him and then brought her lips to his, her hands going on either side of his face, her fingers running into his hair.

"Yeah…" she said. "Yeah…we better make the best of it…you're right," she breathed at him when their lips parted.

She brought her lips back to his and he put his hands on her hips, guiding her the best that he could as he walked her toward the bedroom that she'd claimed as her own. She stepped with him, except for the few times she stepped on his feet, but he didn't complain. Having his feet walked on was worth it at the moment.

She turned away from him before they'd made the entire journey and walked in front of him, guiding him toward the bedroom. Before she even reached the space, she was coming out of her pants, wiggling suggestively as she pushed them down and walked right out of them.

And Daryl thought he might go crazy at the sight of it. He pulled his shirt off as he walked behind her, enjoying for just a moment the fact that they didn't have to worry…they didn't have to worry about someone needing to go to the bathroom…they didn't have to worry about someone needing a snack…they didn't have to worry about a bad dream or a video that needed to be restarted because the fact that they'd put it on "repeat" hadn't taken. They didn't have to worry about being walked in on…all they had to worry about at the moment was themselves and what they wanted out of the moment.

"Is this alright?" Carol asked, as she sat down on the bed and finished shucking out of her clothes.

Daryl was almost out of his clothes too.

Because even though they might have all the time in the world…even though they might have hours to kill being as slow and lazy about this as they could ever desire to be…there was something ingrained in both of them that made them naturally respond to everything in life as though time were of the absolute essence and they were on the verge of being "caught" and "stopped" at every single turn.

"This is damn near perfect," Daryl said, lunging toward Carol and pushing her back on the bed, drawing a yelp and a laugh from her as she wrapped around him, pulling him against her and tangling her limbs with his.

Carol seemed, at the moment, as hungry for him as he was for her. He'd thought that they might take their time with this, but now he was pretty sure that the best thing for both of them was simply to give into things as quickly as possible now…and then make the best of the time they had after that and their appetites were quelled a little.

Teeth caught his lip and hungry hands were all over his body. Daryl rearranged them both as well as he could and pulled away, rushing around and picking through the clothes they'd left on the floor to find his pants where he'd tucked the leftover condoms from his house into the pockets. When he came back, Carol reached her arms out to him, pulling him into her when he leaned down, kissing him again.

"You alright with this?" He asked.

Carol nodded her head.

"I thought you knew…" she responded.

Daryl smiled.

"Just makin' sure," he said.

When he finally sunk into her and her legs held him strong, he couldn't help but groan into the throat that he kissed out of the sheer satisfaction of being back where he wanted to be. When he noticed that she was holding herself back, out of practice or out of something else, he commanded her to let go…and it only took two times of commanding her before she listened, and she did let go and come undone around him entirely, pulling him after her.

When he finally collapsed next to her, their sweaty skin still touching, she rolled and kissed him, her fingertips tracing around his face gently while she smiled at him.

"I think…" Carol said. "That I might…be falling in love with you."

Daryl laughed to himself as a knee jerk reaction and then noticed the look that came over her face. She thought he was laughing at her.

"I'm sorry…" she said, shaking her head and starting to pull away from him.

He caught her, his arms around her arms, and shook his head at her.

"No!" He said. He swallowed. "I weren't laughin' at you…I was laughin' 'cause I think you finally catchin' up with me."


End file.
